04/11/2004

Interest rate hold praised by CBI

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has welcomed the Bank of England's decision to leave interest rates on hold at 4.75%.

The last change in interest rates was an increase of 0.25 percentage points to the present level on August 5.

Reacting to the decision, CBI Chief Economic Adviser Ian McCafferty said the bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was "right to do nothing".

"It's clear the economy has slowed since the summer as the earlier rate rises have begun to take effect and global conditions have become more difficult," he said.

"Quite how well the economy performs into next year is highly uncertain, so the MPC should keep rates on hold until the outlook becomes clearer."

(gmcg/sp)

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