MPC

Martin Weale has called for an immediate 0.25% increase in the Bank of England (BoE) base interest rate, echoing the view of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) hawk Andrew Sentance.

The BoE risks making the UK's debt problem bigger if it raises rates above 0.5% in the near-term to tackle "one-off" inflationary pressures, says the head of portfolio management at Prudential.

The Bank of England has maintained interest rates at 0.5% and kept its quantitative easing programme at £200bn.

Dr Ros Altmann has called on the government to reintroduce inflation-linked certificates as pensioners battle the rising cost of living.

An MPC member has predicted interest rates could hit 5% and urged IFAs to help homeowners prepare for the increases.

China has offered support to the eurozone to help it through the debt crisis that has gripped the region.

Sterling touched a three-month low against the dollar before rebounding as the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) revealed continued division on interest rates while UK growth was revised down.

The Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) Adam Posen has warned the Bank it should not try to compensate for its past mistakes in underestimating inflation by pushing up interest rates.

The Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.5% and left unchanged its quantitative easing programme at £200bn.

The Bank of England's nine-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was split three ways over the direction of monetary policy at their November meeting, according to minutes of the gathering.