With a lot of Concerns about the strength of the economic recovery and the eurozone debt crisis meant that economists had expected rates to remain unchanged. Interest rates have been kept at 0.5% since March 2009.

With UK retail sales growth weakest since May the The Bank did have any choice but to announce any increase in its policy of quantitative easing. In October, where the Bank said it would pump another £75bn into the economy.


Shoppers are keeping a "tight rein" on their spending in the run up to Christmas, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has said. Its retail sales monitor found that retail sales only grew 0.7% in November, which was the weakest growth since May.

With UK manufacturing output down 0.7% in October the health in the Property market has never been more important.

Recent economic data has made gloomy reading, with the influential NIESR think-tank estimating this week that growth slowed again in the three months to November to 0.3%, from 0.4% in the three months to October.

It followed warnings from Bank governor Sir Mervyn King that UK banks should brace themselves for a potential eurozone collapse amid fears of a second credit crunch.

Howard Archer, analyst at IHS Global Insight, said: "Holding back on more QE until early 2012 also gives the MPC more time to judge whether inflationary pressures are easing, which some committee members believe is important for the Bank of England's credibility before it goes further down the QE road."