Interest rates were held at 0.5 per cent today by the Bank of England.

The asset purchase facility was similarly held at £325bn.

The decision was made during the last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee which was held on 9-10 May.

Interest rates have been held at 0.5 per cent since March 2009.

The committee was facing uncertainty as earlier changes had failed to stem rising inflation.

Inflation had begun steadily falling but this was hindered when it rose again from 3.4 per cent to 3.5 per cent last month.

The target figure for inflation is two per cent.

An Inflation Report will be published by the Bank of England on 16 May which will clarify what the Committee expects for inflation in the future and how it is working to prevent further rises.

Further problems arose last month following the announcement from the Office for National Statistics that Britain is back in recession after poor economic growth.

Ian McCafferty, chief economic adviser at the Confederation of British Industry, said: “The combination of sluggish activity and sticky inflation put the MPC in a difficult position, and this decision is likely to have been a close call.

“With economic conditions subdued, and signs of euro area tensions building again, another round of QE cannot be ruled out. But we expect the recovery to be on a firmer footing in the second half of the year, as inflation eases and the global economy strengthens.”

Further details of today’s decision will be given in the minutes of the latest meeting which will be released on 23 May.