The Bank of England has held interest rates at 5.25% for the third time in a row.
At its latest meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee voted by 6-3 to maintain the current base rate and indicated that borrowing costs will remain at that level for some time.
The decision was widely expected by financial markets after inflation fell faster than expected.
Bank governor Andrew Bailey said: “We’ve come a long way this year, and successive rate increases have helped bring inflation down from over 10% in January to 4.6% in October.
“But there is still some way to go. We’ll continue to watch the data closely, and take the decisions necessary to get inflation all the way back to 2%.”
Six members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted for no change, while the other three wanted an increase to 5.5%.
Investors anticipate that the next rate change will be a cut in spring 2024.
The UK economy is expected to show little to no growth for the next couple of years.
