Ref. http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/news/2007/156.htm News Release Bank of England Reduces Bank Rate by 0.25 Percentage Points to 5.5% 6 December 2007 The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to reduce the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves by 0.25 percentage points to 5.5%. Although output in the United Kingdom has expanded at a brisk pace for the past two years, there are now signs that growth has begun to slow. Forward-looking surveys of households and businesses suggest spending is moderating, broadly in line with the projections contained in the November Inflation Report. But conditions in financial markets have deteriorated and a tightening in the supply of credit to households and businesses is in train, posing downside risks to the outlook for both output and inflation further ahead. CPI inflation was 2.1% in October. Higher energy and food prices are expected to keep inflation above the target in the short term. Although upside risks to inflation remain, which the Committee will continue to monitor carefully, slowing demand growth should ease the pressures on supply capacity, bringing inflation back to target in the medium term. Against that background, the Committee judged that a decrease in Bank Rate of 0.25 percentage points to 5.5% was necessary to meet the 2% target for CPI inflation in the medium term. The minutes of the meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 19 December. Note to Editors The previous change in Bank Rate was an increase of 0.25 percentage points to 5.75% on 5 July 2007. --

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