The Bank of England yesterday cut interest rates by another half a percentage point to its lowest rate on record, saying the world economy appeared to be undergoing an unusually sharp and synchronised downturn.
With UK interest rates at 1.5 per cent, they have not been lower since the Bank was founded in 1694. But many economists still fear the Bank has not done enough and will be forced to follow the Federal Reserve into unorthodox measures later this year.
“2009 is also likely to witness radical monetary policy developments,” said Ross Walker of the Royal Bank of Scotland, who shares the view of Alistair Darling, the chancellor, that the recession is likely to be longer and deeper than expected.