The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted on 8 May to keep the bank  rate at 0.5%.

It also voted to maintain the level of quantitative easing at £375 billion.

The previous change in Bank Rate was a reduction of 0.5 percentage points to 0.5% on 5 March 2009.

Chris Williams, CEO, Wealth Horizon said: “On the face of it this announcement, which was widely expected, is business as usual, with market participants having already predicted neither rates nor the QE programme would be changed in May.

“However, given the quarterly inflation report is out later this week, it suggests there is also no major shift in the longer-term inflation outlook as yet, or else the MPC may have been forced to act.”