Bank holds interest rate

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has decided to hold the Bank Rate at 0.5% for the 51st month, and also to leave the quantitative easing programme unchanged at £375bn.

Christian Spence, Research Manager at Greater Manchester Chamber, said: “In the face of the Office for National Statistics’ provisional economic data for the first quarter of the year indicating growth of around 0.3%, it is right that the Committee has decided to withhold any further stimulus.

"The Chamber of Commerce’s Quarterly Economic Survey for Q1 highlighted that the service sector continues to perform strongly in our region, though we are concerned that manufacturing has been weakening over the past year; these findings are supported by recent PMI data.

“There remain significant differences in geographical and sectoral performance across Greater Manchester, as well as the wider North West and the country as a whole.

"It is good news that the urban core of Greater Manchester’s financial, professional services and digital, creative and media sectors are performing well, though other parts of our region remain in a difficult trading environment.

"Construction continues to suffer from weak order books, and we have repeatedly called on the government to support infrastructure projects in the regions to help support this sector and the wider economy.

"The recent news that there are more cranes at work in London, the South East and the East of England than the rest of the UK put together highlights that current investment is now actively increasing the regional imbalances of the UK.

"The Queen’s Speech held little indication that the government has heard the pleas from the regions to support the wider economy and we will continue to work with them to ensure that the needs of our members are clearly put to both the Bank of England and the government.”