The base rate has been held at 0.5 per cent by the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee.

A rate rise had been predicted for May but following positive news with regards to growth figures, there was a revison of predictions.

This follows the news that the country's economy grew by 0.5 per cent in the first part of 2011. This was positive news after a fall of 0.5 per cent in GDP in the final quarter of last year.

The base rate has been at 0.5 per cent, which is an all time low, since March 2009.