Hold interest rates, cautions chamber
Interest rates should remain on hold, despite growth figures for the first quarter of 2011. That’s the view of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, which said it is still too early for a rates hike.
Louise Bennett, the chief executive of the chamber, said that although the return to growth was a positive step, it had only balanced the contraction of the final quarter of 2010.
She said: "While there is a hint of optimism out there among business it’s still not clear that we have begun a sustainable economic recovery.
"Until such time that we see that, then there is no room for manoeuvre on interest rates – they must stay at this low of 0.5 per cent.
"The fact that inflation fell unexpectedly will also have given the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee a bit more breathing space too."
