Quezi

Bank of England (photo by den99 CC-BY)

Today’s announcement (2009-01-08) by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee setting the interest rate at 1.5% makes it the lowest interest rate since the Bank of England was established in 1694.

In relatively recent times, 29 years ago, it stood at a record high of 17%. The Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time raised the rate to try and prevent inflation and rising wages. What is different now is that the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee decide on the rate not the Chancellor, and there is now a different financial problem.

An interest rate of 2% has been seen on several occasions, but prior to the latest change, the last time it stood at 2% was from 1939 to 1951.

The changes in the interest rate since 1975 is to be found on the Bank of England’s Statistical Interactive Database – official Bank Rate history page.

For a longer historical view from when the Bank was founded there is an interactive graph on the Guardian newspaper website.