Bank of England

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has announced the UK base interest rate should be maintained at 4.5%.

Voca, the organisation formerly known as Bacs, which processes some 90% of UK salary payments to bank accounts, says latest figures on average earnings growth in the private sector argue strongly against the Bank of England cutting rates tomorrow.

The Bank of England should cut interest rates to avoid the threat of lower growth, higher unemployment and real problems for the manufacturing sector, claims a new report from the Trade Union Congress.

NATIONWIDE MUTUAL, the American owner of fund manager Gartmore, has decided against selling the whole of the asset management business but is instead looking to sell its UK operations, reports The Telegraph .

Net lending to individuals rose to £9.6bn in November from £8.9bn in October and was £0.8bn higher than the previous six month average, according to the latest Bank of England figures.

THIS MORNING'S papers report that a year of natural disasters has left Britain's consumers at their least optimistic about the economy since the Iraq war.

The minutes of the latest Monetary Policy Committee meeting show just one of the nine members of the committee voted to reduce the interest rate when they met at the beginning of December.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has once again voted to hold interest rates at their current level of 4.5%.

A MORE generous state pension in return for a longer working life will be among the chief recommendations made by Lord Adair Turner's Pension Commission later this month, according to the Financial Times .

THE NUMBER of people asking about buying a house last month rose at the sharpest rate for two years, suggesting that the property market is beginning to pick up, according to this morning's papers.