‘No surprises’ expected on interest rates

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce is expecting no surprises when interest rates are set tomorrow.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meet on Thursday to set rates and decide whether to pump more Quantitative Easing (QE) into the economy.

But Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Chamber, expects the Bank to maintain the status quo.

She said: “The record low rate of 0.5 per cent needs to be maintained but it’s vital that SMEs start to benefit so they can invest in growing their businesses.

“We hear from companies all the time who want to grow but can’t access the finance to do so. If we want the economy to grow, it’s vital that they can get to the funds needed to support their own business expansion.

“The British Chambers of Commerce has pushed very hard for the establishment of a business bank and it’s vital that this happens sooner rather than later and that it can provide the much needed finance our businesses need.”