Interest rates held at 5.25pc

The decision comes in spite of the Bank of England’s recent indication that interest rates would have to rise further to ensure inflation stayed near its 2pc target. Analysts said they were unmoved by the announcement given that the UK economy was now likely to go through a period of deceleration in the coming months. Chris Iggo, UK senior strategist at AXA Investment managers, said: “We were not surprised to see the MPC decide to leave interest rates unchanged at 5.25pc in March. “In February the majority argued to allow the previous rate hikes to take effect on the economy, and w...