The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold at 4.75 per cent for the sixth consecutive month.

The monetary policy committee opted to leave the cost of borrowing unchanged when it announced its monthly decision on Thursday.

With house price rises stabilising, consumer spending slow over Christmas and manufacturing making a steady increase in output, the move was not unexpected.

After five rises leading up to August last year, committee members have been in little disagreement that the current level is high enough to meet its two per cent inflation target, with a unanimous decision last month.

And ministers will now hope that the Bank keeps rates under the five per cent mark until polling day.

Some City analysts even predict that the committee's next move may be to cut, rather than raise, rates.

Unions said the announcement was "the correct decision".

"Although yesterday's surprise figures show that our manufacturers are now producing more, employers still expect around 26,000 manufacturing jobs to go in the first three months of this year. Now is not the time to risk making things worse," TUC chief economist Ian Brinkley said.

And the British Chambers of Commerce added that "the economic data suggests that the Bank should continue to sit on its hands".

But Ian McCafferty, chief economist at the CBI, said the committee had an "interesting challenge".

"Consumers appear to have pulled in their horns over the holiday period, and exporters are struggling with the strength of sterling," he said.

"However, the broader economy continues to show healthy growth, and the tight labour market and buoyant commodity prices are nudging inflation higher."