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Interest rate decision was unanimous

The monetary policy committee (MPC) was unanimous in this month's decision to keep interest rates at five per cent, the Bank of England (BoE) has revealed.

Minutes of the meeting from early December show all nine members voting to maintain the base rate, saying it was too early to judge the impact of recent rises.

The MPC is responsible for adjusting raises interest rates to keep inflation in line with the government's two per cent target.

"Money and credit had continued to grow at elevated rates perhaps posing an upside risk to inflation," the minutes said.

While the bank predicted inflation to "fall back in 2007", it also raised concerns over the effect of pay rises.

The minutes showed that although mortgage lending had accelerated, the growth in unsecured lending, "most notably on credit cards", had continued to slow.

Annual inflation was 2.7 per cent in November, according to government data measured by the Consumer Price Index, the highest on record and up from 2.4 per cent in October.

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21/12/2006 16:11:39

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