Interest rate cuts do not impress all

Following the most recent Monetary Policy Committee meeting earlier this month the Bank of England announced that it was cutting the base interest rate for the fifth time in a row, taking it to a new historic low of just 1 percent, which is the lowest in the history of the Bank of England. Read more

Tags: funding, consumer, lows, bank of england, monthly repayments

HMRC offers huge reward for return of sensitive data discs

Following the huge blunder where two discs containing the bank and personal details of 25 million people were lost by HM Revenue and Customs a huge reward has been offered by official for the safe return of the information. The discs were lost some weeks ago by HMRC, and although there has been no indication that they have fallen into the wrong hands everyone affected has been contacted in writing and urged to be extra vigilant to ensure that nothing is amiss when it comes to their bank accounts. Read more

Tags: police, bank account, fraud, identity theft, interest rate cuts, safe return, data

Interest rate cuts ‘cannot be banked on’

Despite consumers anticipating that interest-rate cuts will take place throughout the year, it is likely that if further cuts are made they will be done so cautiously, one financial expert has claimed.

According to the Fairinvestment.co.uk, up to 29 per cent of consumers expect the rate to fall from the current 5.25 per cent to 4.75 per cent by the year end, while a further 27 per cent are anticipating a rate of 4.5 per cent or below.

James Caldwell, fairinvestment.co.uk director, said that consumers see the interest rate cuts as necessary to ease pressure on household budgets.

However, he said that making the decision to cut rates is not straightforward with various factors having to be taken into consideration.

“Therefore, it is likely that rates will be cut with an air of caution if there are to be further reductions this year,” Mr Caldwell concluded.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee last voted to reduce the interest rate, from 5.5 per cent to 5.25 per cent, in February 2008.

Tags: rate cuts, household budgets, Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, cent, money, committee, consumers