Lloyds TSB comments in advance of base rate decision

Commenting in advance of Thursday's Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision on base rates, Trevor Williams, chief economist, Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets said: "We may well see a rate rise before the summer is out, but a move this month is highly unlikely. We've seen rates increased four times since August last year and the effects of these are only just starting to show through - inflation is coming off the boil, the housing market is cooling and signs of slower activity are appearing in the retail sector.

"However, it's still too early to judge the full impact of these cumulative increases, especially those that have taken place in the past nine months. The most likely outcome of this month's meeting is that the MPC will opt to hold rates and buy time to gauge the impact of recent increases, before making another move."