The Bank of England today voted to keep interest rates on hold at 5.25%, after the surprise rise last month.

Tony McGough, head of forecasting at Jones Lang LaSalle commented: “The move last month was pre-emptive, and the Bank will want to see how that decision will impact on the economy. Figures released in January, for Q4 GDP and retail sales, are in line with the decision the Bank made and therefore no further changes are needed as there have been no further surprises.

The Bank would have had to have seen high numbers in next week’s inflation rate announcement to have been forced to move the rates again. In addition, we suspect that the Bank wants to see the level of the wage settlements coming through in the current round before it makes another decision, and doesnt want to surprise the financial markets again unless it has too. Consequently an interest rate rise in March or April was always much more likely.”