At their March meeting, the Bank of England declared that interest rates would remain at their record low level of 0.5%. They have now remained unchanged for six years since the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to take emergency measures to cut them in March 2009 in response to the global economic crisis. This was designed to stimulate growth, assisted by their policy of quantitative easing that initially introduced £75bn into the economy. Since this time the programme of quantitative easing has been expanded and has now introduced in the region of £375bn into the economy and it was decided by the MPC that this level would also remain unchanged.

Economists now anticipate that interest rates will remain the same in the near future, but have brought forward their estimates of when they will start to increase to November this year. It is certainly not anticipated that any changes would be made before the general election this July.

Are you or your business seeking to take advantage of low interest rates before the anticipated rise? Alternatively, are your personal or businesses finances leveraged in such a way that the impending rise may be of significant detriment to them? Either way, then it may be appropriate to seek professional advice on the range of available options or on how to plan in order to mitigate this. A free initial consultation with one of our qualified advisors may, therefore, be appropriate. Contact us.