The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to hold interest rates at 0.50%.

It has also chosen to maintain quantitative easing at £375 billion.

Barry Naisbitt, chief economist at Santander UK, said: “After last month’s Inflation Report, the decision to once again hold rates and quantitative easing came as no real surprise to markets and commentators. There remains uncertainty about the underlying pace of economic activity, with the strong estimate of GDP growth in the third quarter of this year being flattered by special factors.

“The latest indicators of economic activity for November do not show a strong position, although activity trends continue to be mixed – stronger for the service sector than for manufacturing industry.

“While the latest MPC minutes do not rule out further quantitative easing, and indeed one MPC member voted for more last month, the MPC will be continuing to monitor the economic signs closely to decide whether it considers it necessary to provide any further policy boost in the months ahead.”