Mark Carney

The bank announced today that its Monetary Policy Committee has voted by a majority of 7-2 to maintain the rate.

The committee also voted unanimously to maintain the stock of corporate bond purchases and UK government bond purchases, financed by the issuance of central bank reserves, at £435 billion.

Mark Carney, current governor of the Bank of England, who is due to be replaced by Andrew Bailey in March, said: “The most recent signs are that global growth has stabilised. To be clear these are still early days and it’s less of a case of so far so good than so far good enough.”

However, he added that “caution is warranted” as “evidence of a pick-up in growth is not yet widespread”.

Commenting on the announcement, Kevin Brown, savings specialist at Scottish Friendly, said: “The Bank of England has voted to keep rates where they are at the moment but it would not be surprising at all to some movement within the next couple of months.

“The pressure on the Bank to cut rates has eased in the past few days, with recent data showing the economy performed better than expected in January.

“But the Bank has a delicate balancing act to manage in the coming months, where it will be expected to foster growth while keeping inflation at a healthy level.

“If either indicator swings significantly, then there is a strong chance that an increasing number of Monetary Policy Committee members will vote for a rate cut, which would have dire consequences for savers.”

Richard Pearson, director at investment platform Selftrade, added: “The smart money was on an interest rate cut today, so the big question now is, what happens next to help the economy? Whether or not the much-vaunted Boris bounce materialises and boosts the economy, and in turn inflation, remains to be seen.

“And of course with Brexit just days away, its impact on the economy and consumer confidence is still unknown.

“There was a flurry of buying and selling activity by Selftrade investors immediately after the election result last month, so people are clearly keeping a watchful eye on events. However, since then our retail investors seem to be keeping their powder dry in terms of making big changes to their investment portfolios.

“For cash savers, rates are pitiful and still look like they may fall further, so no change today feels nothing more than a ‘stay of execution’.

“Savers who have not yet looked at investing in the stock market as an alternative to maintain and grow the value of their cash should now give it serious consideration.”