Interest rates "lowest for half a century", says uSwitch.com

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Interest rates "lowest for half a century", says uSwitch.com

Fri 5th Dec 2008

Interest rates are at their "lowest level for half a century", according to uSwitch.com, after the Bank of England cut them for the second time in two months.

The financial comparison website described the Bank of England's move to reduce the base rate of interest by a further one per cent as "aggressive" but expressed scepticism as to whether the cuts would be passed on.

According to uSwitch.com, only 11 lenders passed on last month's base rate cut of 1.5 per cent and nine loan providers cut their rates by less than 0.5 per cent.

A spokesman for the website said: "Consumers are waiting with bated breath to see if lenders are prepared to pass on today's cut."

"Given so many passed on just a fraction of last month's radical 1.5 per cent drop, it will be interesting to see if they follow the same strategy."

Following last month's cut, chancellor Alistair Darling called a meeting with the heads of several major mortgage lenders and pressured them to pass on the reductions to customers.

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