Santander comments on Bank of England decision to hold interest rates at 0.50% and quantitative easing held

"After the major change in the approach to monetary policy announced in August, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was highly unlikely to do anything other than hold Bank Rate again this month. The main focus of attention has been on the string of positive news on the UK economy – the survey indicators of activity strengthened further in August and remained positive in September. This suggests that GDP growth will be strong again in the third quarter, although the figures for manufacturing output in August were weaker than anticipated. For the MPC in the months ahead the key will be whether relatively strong GDP results in a reduction in the unemployment rate and if inflation continues to edge down."