rate cut

Interest Rates

Call for Rate Cut as Manufacturing Declines

September 18, 2008 News

Business groups are calling for a cut in interest rates after official figures showed that British manufacturing output has fallen for the fifth month in a row. The 9 September report from the Office for National Statistics revealed that UK manufacturing output dropped 0.2% between June and July – twice as much as anticipated by economic analysts. Separate figures released on the same day by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research suggested output across the UK economy as a whole fell by 0.2% between June and August. Paris–based think tank, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, added weight to the belief that the UK economy is already in recession by forecasting that it will shrink by 0.4% in the final three months of the year. Economic advis... »

BoE

Rate Cut

April 10, 2008 News

Interest rates cut to 5% As expected the Bank of England has cut interest rates to 5% Analysts had been expecting the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee to drop the rate under the continuing uncertainty over the worldwide economic credit crisis. The UK interest rate was cut in December (to 5.5%) and remained untouched in January. A further cut in February (to 5.25%) was followed by a decision to maintain the rate in March. April’s cut of a quarter of one percent is seen as a further attempt to help the country’s slowing economy. The squeeze on global credit so far hasn’t been as severe in the UK as it has in the US where rates have been slashed to prop up their faltering economy. However, the economic outlook for the UK still remains cool, despite an increase in factor... »