Chamber welcomes interest rate freeze
Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce has welcomed the Bank of England’s decision to keep interest rates at 0.5 per cent for the 18th consecutive month. The bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) also left its Quantitative Easing programme unchanged.
Commenting on the decision, George Cowcher, chief executive of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “The MPC’s decision to hold interest rates and maintain the current levels of Quantitative Easing for another month was widely expected, but welcome nonetheless. In spite of positive economic data for the second quarter of 2010, the risks of a setback remain."
He added that any decision to raise the rates should not be considered until “the middle of 2011 at the earliest”.
Cowcher said: “The government’s forceful deficit-reduction measures will hit the cashflow of many firms and any tightening of monetary policy in the current climate would worsen the pressures facing businesses in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, which could seriously damage the economy at this stage of the recovery.”
