text: Bank of England votes unanimously on policy decision - UPDATE - stock market news and uk share prices
  Bank of England votes unanimously on policy decision - UPDATE
  The Bank of England (BoE) voted unanimously on keeping interest rates at a record low of 0.5% and asset purchases at £375bn, minutes from the central bank's last meeting revealed on Wednesday.
  All nine of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members voted in favour of policy decision at the July 9-10th meeting, the minutes said.
  The BoE weighed alternative interpretations of data including the risk a small rise in the benchmark rate would have in derailing expansion and leaving inflation below the target.
  The central bank noted there was uncertainty surrounding the level of spare capacity in the economy.
  The MPC pointed out the contradictory evidence on the amount of labour market slack coming from very low earnings growth but strongly rising employment.
  Wage growth excluding bonuses lowed to a record low of 0.7% in the three months to May.
  The Bank said there was "reason to believe both that reductions in labour market slack were taking longer to affect wage growth, and that the effective supply of labour had increased".
  Analysis of labour market indicators are being prepared for the August Quarterly Inflation Report, the MPC indicated.
  "A rise in Bank Rate at a time when the economy was growing strongly would facilitate a more gradual path thereafter and would allow the Committee to evaluate the sensitivity of households, firms and financial markets to changes in interest rates, following a long period during which Bank Rate had remained unchanged," the minutes said.
  The Bank added that MPC members had "no preset timing for the first increase in Bank Rate, which would be driven by the data".
  The minutes come amid speculation the BoE will increase interest rates sooner than previously expected as recent data points to improvement in the UK economy.
  "It is clearly a very close call as to whether the Bank of England will raise interest rates at the end of this year or hold off until early-2015," said Howard Archer, Chief UK and European Economist at IHS Global Insight.
  "Indeed, there will undoubtedly be many swings in interest rate expectations over the coming weeks and months. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has repeatedly stressed that the decision on when to start interest rate increases is not pre-set and will be data driven, and this stance was reiterated in the July MPC minutes."
  Archer said even if the Bank starts raising interest rates before the end of 2014, IHS still expects it to reach 1.25% by the end of 2015, 2% by the end of 2016 and 3% by the end of 2017.
  The BoE acknowledged that the economy is growing rapidly. Figures due later this week are expected to show quarterly growth of 0.8% in the second quarter of this year, taking gross domestic product above its 2008 pre-crisis peak for the first time.
  However, price pressures remain muted despite a rise in inflation to 1.9% in June, closer towards the BoE's 2% target.