News

08/01/2009 13:20:49

MPC continues cuts

The Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) has opted to introduce further cuts to the base rate of interest.

In its monthly meeting, the MPC announced today (December 8th) that interest rates are to be cut by 0.5 percentage points.

Now the rate stands at 1.5 per cent, the lowest ever recorded in the Bank's history.

In addition, today's decision is the fourth consecutive month that the committee has reduced rates, where before the series of reductions the base rate was at five per cent.

And with rates at an all-time low, Cheltenham & Gloucester called on people to take advantage of this by increasing their mortgage payments, something which could help them with their money management in the long term.

Stephen Noakes, marketing director for the financial services firm, said: "With rates at a historic low, we would encourage mortgage holders to consider making overpayments if they can afford it."

He added that by overpaying today, homeowners "will reap the benefits in the future" as the length of time that they have to make mortgage payments will be reduced.

In December, the MPC chose to reduce rates by one percentage point, compared to a 1.5 percentage reduction in the previous month.