Responding to the Bank of England’s decision to hold interest rates at 0.75%, Tej Parikh, Senior Economist at the Institute of Directors, said:

“Business leaders will welcome the Bank’s decision to err on the side of caution by holding interest rates steady this month.

“With Brexit negotiations going down to the wire, any changes to the cost of borrowing now would ultimately be a stab in the dark with the near-term path of the economy in a constant state of flux. Meanwhile, though wage growth has picked up recently, it remains unclear whether it can continue to rise organically and generate inflationary pressure given downbeat forecasts for productivity.

“Looking ahead, the Chancellor’s push to drive investment and stimulate consumer spending in the Budget will also do little to perturb the Bank for the time being. Indeed, the MPC is likely to avoid spooking the markets by fiddling with rates at least until the nature of our future relationship with the European Union clears up.”