General call for rate hold

Most of the members of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) opted for an interest rate hold in July, the minutes of its meeting have said.

Yet while these seven went for no change, David Blanchflower argued for a cut to 4.75 per cent and Timothy Besley staked a claim for a rise, which may be of interest to those planning new developments.

The Bank stated that every member of the MPC has a "difficult" task because of both higher than anticipated inflation and slowing economic growth.

As a result of the revelations, UK economist at Capital Economics Vicky Redwood noted that the likelihood of a cut in rates has been diminished.

"We still think that a rate rise will be avoided. But a rate cut before November at the earliest now looks even more unlikely," she commented.

Rates were last trimmed in April by the MPC when they fell from 5.25 per cent to five per cent.