Bank of England keeps base rate at 0.5 per cent for 69 months in a row

The Bank of England has voted to keep interest rates at 0.5 per cent for the 69th month in a row. 

 

The last time the UK's base rate changed was March 2009.  

 

If you're trying to remember what was happening back then, that month RPI also reached zero for the first time since the 1960s, G20 protests hit London, Jenson Button won the Australian Grand Prix and Josef Fritzl was sentenced to life. 

 

The chart below shows movement in the period between 1975 and 2009.

 

 

 

We'll find out how the monetary policy committee (MPC) voted  on December 17. It has been a split vote – 7-2 in favour of the status quo – for the last few months, with the same two dissenters – Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale – voting in favour of a 0.25 per cent rise in rates four times in a row. 

 

Analysts were predicting there would be little change, but the announcement barely registered on the various notes sent out this morning, with comments ranging from “a veritable non-event” (Daiwa Europe) to “mundane” (Soc Gen).