The Bank of England has defied predictions and kept interest rates on hold despite fears of a post-Brexit collapse.
Governor Mark Carney was expected to cut interest rates further from the historic low of 0.5 per cent today, amid a period of “heightened uncertainty” following the referendum.
Mr Carney previously warned British families to prepare their finances for a three per cent rise in the coming years.
He stated that in his personal view “"some monetary policy easing will likely be required over the summer", which sparked predictions of an interest rate cut.
But only one member of the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee, Gertjan Vlieghe, voted to cut interest rates to 0.25 per cent.
The other eight members of the MPC voted to leave borrowing costs on hold until August.
Minutes of today’s meeting state: “In the absence of a further worsening in the trade-off between supporting growth and returning inflation to target on a sustainable basis, most members of the Committee expect monetary policy to be loosened in August.
“The precise size and nature of any stimulatory measures will be determined during the August forecast and Inflation Report round.”
The Bank of England also unanimously voted to leave the country’s quantitative easing programme unchanged at £375bn.
This sparked another surge in the pound, going up two cents against the US dollar and 1.5 cents against the Euro.
