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West Midlands business leaders have welcomed the Bank of England's decision to leave interest rates unchanged.

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "Growth in the last quarter was low but, nonetheless, it was growth. Low interest rates are absolutely key in helping to get the economy growing in a sustained way so we are pleased that the MPC has taken this course of action.

"At our annual conference in September we will be looking at economic growth as our main topic with leading figures such as Lord Digby Jones and Tom Vosa.

"And one thing most commentators do agree on is that low interest rates are fundamentally important to achieve the growth we all want to see."

But Birmingham Chamber of Commerce president Christine Braddock called for more measures to tackle the economic downturn.

She said: "Weak domestic consumer demand and a downturn in global trade flows have hit export sales, and because of this it would be prudent for 'quantitative easing' to be considered as an option for the Bank of England should the economy continue to struggle."

The Coventry-based British Chambers of Commerce said it expected interest rates to be maintained at their current low level at least until the early months of 2012, highlighting the fragility of the UK's recovery and "the acute pressures" facing businesses and individuals.

This was echoed by the Confederation of British Industry, which said the MPC's call was made in the face of worrying economic news and with growing evidence of a softening of the global economy combined with rising inflation expectations in the UK.

Ian McCafferty, CBI chief economic adviser, said: "While we continue to believe that the UK economy will pick up into 2012, we won't see clear evidence of this in data for some months yet, leaving the bank unlikely to alter its policy before the end of the year."