Interest rates cut

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has announced that it has cut rates by 0.25 per cent so that they now stand at 5.5 per cent.

"Although output in the United Kingdom has expanded at a brisk pace for the past two years, there are now signs that growth has begun to slow," the Bank said in a statement.

"Forward-looking surveys of households and businesses suggest spending is moderating, broadly in line with the projections contained in the November Inflation Report," it continued.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, said that he thought the cut would act as just the panacea the UK's faltering housing market needed.

"There has been considerable doom and gloom lately as we have had to endure the fallout from some significant national and international events," he commented.

"This latest rate decrease will at least go some way towards repairing the damage done. I’m hopeful this will be the turning point in consumer confidence that will set the market back on track again."

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