Policymakers at the Bank of England voted 7-2 earlier this month to keep interest rates unchanged, according to the minutes of their meeting. Christopher Allsopp voted for the seventh consecutive time to reduce rates by 25 basis points from their current 48-year low of 3.75pc, while Marion Bell joined him in his dovish stance. The monetary policy committee voted 8-1 to hold rates the previous month. In the minutes, the committee said it considered the arguments both to maintain and to reduce rates. It concluded that the arguments for the former were "more convincing" and that it would prefer to wait until the uncertainty caused by the war in Iraq faded.
"It looked likely at the moment that the war would be over quickly, so that uncertainty from this source would be less next month; hence, on this occasion, a delay should help clarify the underlying picture for the Committee," the minutes said. The committee also said that the fall in oil prices should stimulate activity, while household borrowing remained high and there had only been a "tentative" reduction in house prices.//www.fxcentre.com