Interest Rate Cut By 0.5%

The Bank of England has cut its minimum lending rate by 0.5%, the Treasury has announced; this means that the new base rate is now 5.5%.

The Midland Bank has responded, by cutting its base lending rate to 5.5%, and the Nationwide mortgage rate is down to 7.74%. However, both the Halifax and the Woolwich have said they will wait until after the Budget. Kenneth Clarke has said that the cut is “consistent with the Government’s inflation target”. The Treasury has said that today’s action takes full account of next week’s Budget.

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