BCC urges against interest rate rise

The Bank of England is being urged to refrain from raising interest rates in the near future, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has suggested.

According to the group, although January's surprise quarter point hike was necessary, there is not sufficient evidence to suggest that a further rise is required.

David Kern, economic adviser to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said that "high expectation" within the manufacturing and service industry would "heighten the clamour" for an interest rate rise.

However, he said that the "available evidence does not support further tightening at the moment".

The BCC said that the bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) should only be tempted towards a rate rise if there is "firm evidence that private sector wage pressures are accelerating".

Suggesting that unexpected movements were "unwelcome and potentially harmful", he urged the MPC to make monetary policy "boring" again.

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