The announcement means that the base rate has been unchanged for 4.5 years. The Bank of England also maintained the size of the Asset Purchase Programme (QE) at £375 billion
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee met on 9 October and voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. 
The Bank says the committee reached its decisions "in the context of the monetary policy forward guidance announced alongside the publication of the August 2013 Inflation Report." The minutes of the meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 23 October.
Interest rates have been set at 0.5 per cent since March 2009 while the asset purchase programme was last increased in July 2012.
Governor Mark Carney announced in August that he would apply 'forward guidance' on interest rates, stating that the Bank of England base rate was unlikely to change until unemployment fell to seven per cent or lower.
Economists have forecast that this may be unlikely before 2016 as unemployment is current in the range of 7.5 to 8 per cent although recent figures suggesting that the UK economy is recovering slightly faster than expected may bring unemployment down quicker.
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Mr Carney said recently that unemployment guide would serve as a "prompt" for the Bank to reconsider the interest rate. He added, however, that the Bank would continue to make control of inflation a priority and this may affect any changes to interest rates.
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