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Poll: Interest rates unlikely to change

By Sarah Engle, Tue 5 Aug 2008 - Published in Banking

None of the seven financial institutions and economists questioned believe that interest rates will change this month, a new Adfero poll has discovered.

Currently five per cent, the base rate can determine how much people on variable rate mortgages and loans pay back in interest.

However, Lloyds TSB, HSBC and the Centre for Economic and Business Research all said there would be "no change", while Nationwide said there was a seven in ten chance it will remain at five per cent, a two in ten chance it will fall and a one in ten chance it will rise.

Paul Dales, UK economist at Capital Economics, offered an explanation for his belief it will remain unchanged in August.

"I think the confusing economic climate will offset the inflation fears for the time being. The easiest thing to do is to leave rates on hold for the moment."

The national rate of interest is decided by the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, which is scheduled to announce this month's decision on August 7th at 12:00 BST.