Interest rates remain at 4.5% - so what happens next?

At 12:00 GMT, we got the decision we were expecting - the Bank of England held interest rates at 4.5%.

The nine-person Monetary Policy Committee, which sets the rate, voted 8-1 in favour of holding - with one member voting to cut.

That decisive vote is being seen by some as a sign that rates will remain at 4.5% for longer than expected. But - as with all economic forecasts - no-one can be certain.

The MPC said "global trade policy uncertainty has intensified" in recent weeks, citing US tariffs and other countries' responses.

Yet while Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey acknowledged that uncertainty, he also said: "We still think that interest rates are on a gradually declining path."

The Money Saving Expert founder, Martin Lewis, spoke to Adrian Chiles on his show on BBC 5 Live.

"We need growth in the economy, which would mean you want to put interest rates down, but inflation is trickling its little head again and going up," says Lewis.

"I don't think they [the Bank of England] had much choice to do anything other than that this time round... the Bank of England only has a very limited amount of tools."

Source: BBC News - Ben Amos