INTEREST RATES MUST REMAIN LOW FOR TIME BEING

Thursday 13th January

Commenting on the decision by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to keep interest rates on hold at 0.5%, Liz Cameron, Chief Executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said:

“Despite the continued above-target levels of inflation and the expectation that this will be exacerbated in the short term by the recent VAT rise, the Bank of England is right to maintain current levels of interest rates for the time being.

“We believe that the risks to our economic recovery remain on the down side and that the Bank should only consider bringing interest rates back up to more normal levels once the upturn in business becomes more widely established.  This week’s export figures show that we have some distance to travel before we can take growth for granted, and it is important to maintain stability on interest rates until the evidence points to a broad based recovery in Scotland.”

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