Base rate maintenance vote was unanimous

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The decision by the Bank of England to maintain the base rate of interest at 5.75 per cent was unanimous, it has been revealed.

In their meeting on September 5th and 6th, the nine members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) were agreed that no change should be made to the base rate.

Minutes of the meeting, published this week, reveal that the sub-prime lending crisis in the US and similar financial concerns in the UK played a part in the choice.

While the MPC observed that its role is to maintain inflation at about two per cent, the committee members expressed the opinion that this might occur without modification of the current base rate.

The minutes state that, if the rates charged by lenders were to rise following the crisis, "credit conditions would tighten without any further change in Bank Rate".

In August, the decision to maintain the base rate was also unanimous - the first time the MPC has been in total agreement for two consecutive months since November 2005.

Throughout September, October and November of that year, the panel all opted to maintain rates at 4.50 per cent, according to Bank of England figures.

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