Bank of England keeps rate unchanged at 5.25%

The Bank of England left its benchmark interest rate unchanged on 5th April 2007. The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee kept the bank rate steady at 5.25 per cent The bank has raised Britain's base rate by three quarters of a point since August 2006, last being in January 2007.

The central bank has recently expressed its concern about the need to control inflation, which rose to an annual rate of 3 percent in December, the highest rate in ten years.

The Bank of England is raising borrowing costs along with the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan. The ECB has increased its main rate seven times since the end of 2005, taking it to 3.75 per cent last month. Japan’s central bank in February 2007 doubled its benchmark to 0.5 per cent. The US Federal Reserve has however, left its main rate at 5.25 per cent since June 2006.

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