The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has once again voted to hold interest rates at 0.50% and maintain the current level of quantitative easing.

Barry Naisbitt, chief economist at Santander UK, said: “After the major change in the approach to monetary policy announced in August, the Monetary Policy Committee was not expected to do anything other than hold Bank Rate again this month.

“Recent months have seen a series of positive economic news indicators for the UK economy, with the economy estimated to have grown by 0.8% in the third quarter and strong survey indicators of activity continuing into October too.

“For the MPC in the months ahead the key will be whether the relatively strong output growth results in a faster reduction in the unemployment rate than it anticipated in August.

“With inflation still above target at 2.7% and steep energy price rises to come, the forthcoming quarterly Inflation Report and any changes that the MPC may make to its outlook for the economy are likely to be the next areas of focus.”