The Bank of England has voted to hold the interest rate at 0.5%.

The base rate has been at this all-time low since March, having first been cut last October.

The Bank of England has also announced that it will not be injecting any more money into the economy this year as part of its radical quantitative easing programme.

Last month, the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) announced an extension to its plans to help lift the UK out of recession, increasing the amount of new money created from £175 billion to £200 billion.

The Bank of England has not ruled out further extension of this programme; last month’s minutes indicate that at least one member of the MPC favoured a further £40 billion increase.

• interest rates