He said: "On one hand, cutting interest rates would have risked stoking both the housing market and consumer indebtedness to dangerously high levels. On the other, raising them would seem excessive at a time when the recovery in economic activity is only tentative at the moment."
"In addition, the MPC will probably wait for the fog surrounding both the substantial revisions to the economic growth numbers and the imminent switch to the new inflation target to lift before it decides to change rates again."
"Given this, we think base rates will end this year unchanged at 3.5%, before embarking on an upward path in the first half of next year against the backdrop of growing economic activity."
