Bank of England Not Expected to Raise Interest Rates for a Year, Finds CISI

Half of financial services practitioners (51%) do not expect the Bank of England (BoE) to raise the UK interest rate for at least 12 months, a Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) survey shows. A further 22% anticipate the rate will remain unchanged for nine months while 17% think an increase is six months away.

Only 10% predict the rate will be hiked from its record low of 0.5% before the end of 2011. Over 550 financial service practitioners participated in the survey.

Comments from those taking part included that it would be would be “economic suicide” to raise the rate in the near future as business and personal finance is “maxed out”. “Increasing rates will have a severe recessional effect and create unrest that has not been seen since the 1920s,” warned a contributor.

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