Ben Broadbent, recently appointed to the Monetary Policy Committee, voted against an interest rate in June's committee meeting
The newest member of the Bank of England’s rate-setting committee has voted to keep interest rates on hold at their historic low of 0.5 percent.
Former Goldman Sachs economist
Ben Broadbent voted alongside the majority at the
Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) June meeting, according to meeting minutes.
Broadbent’s view is juxtaposed with his predecessor’s, Andrew Sentance, who had been pushing a half-point rise since February.
The other members of the MPC have not changed their votes, resulting in a seven-to-two majority in favour of maintaining interest rates.
Interest rates have remained at their record low for 27 months.
Opinion within and outside the MPC has been divided on whether British economic recovery is strong enough to withstand an interest rate increase, traditionally seen as the best way to manage inflation and rising prices.
Although the MPC voted against a rise, the minutes suggest there is still concern over the high levels if inflation. The
Consumer Prices Index (CPI) in May showed inflation is now more than double the 2 percent target at 4.5 percent.
Markit chief economist Chris Williamson said the minutes suggest the interest rate will stay at 0.5 percent, with any changes approved likely to take the form of ‘quantitative easing’ (QE) – increasing the amount of money put into the economy.
"Together with the more dovish composition of the MPC, this suggests the chances of interest rates rising this year have decreased and the chance of additional stimulus have risen," he said.