Bank of England

The Bank of England has left the base rate unchanged at 4.5% today following a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee.

Increasing interest rates do not seem to have deterred people from borrowing more as new findings from the Bank of England suggest total debt in the UK almost hit the £1 trillion mark in May.

Members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously for the 0.25% hike in interest rates to 4.5% earlier this month, minutes from the Bank of England show.

Interest rates are more than likely to rise next week after the Bank of England published new figures showing Britons retain an undiminished appetite for borrowing.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee was close to voting for a full 0.5% increase in the base rate earlier this month minutes just published from the last meeting show.

April inflation figures just published by the Office for National Statistics show rising oil prices have substantially impacted on prices in the UK.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has increased the UK base interest rate to 4.25%, as anticipated by the City.

ALL EYES are on the City today in this morning's national newspapers, as the industry waits to see whether the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee increases the base interest rate, as expected.

The latest lending figures from the Bank of England suggest the Monetary Policy Committee will simply be discussing the size of the interest rate rise rather than whether to impose one at all when it meets later this week.

Economists still expect interest rates to rise by next month even after the minutes of the last Monetary Policy Committee meeting show just one of the nine votes went in favour of a rise.