UK interest rates will remain at The Bank of England has left UK interest rates on hold at 4.75% for the eighth month running at the end of its latest rate-setting meeting.

The decision by the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was widely expected given subdued UK inflation and a slowdown in consumer spending.

Britons are finally feeling the pinch from five rate rises in one-and-a-half years, analysts said.

However, they are split on whether rates will rise after the election.

"We still think a quarter point rise will come by June," said Graeme Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors (IoD).

But some economists are speculating that the next rate move will be down instead of up given that inflation is below the government's target while the retail sector is still struggling.

"The events of the last month and today's decision to leave interest rates on hold at 4.75% support my longstanding forecast that interest rates are currently at their peak and could soon begin to fall," said Roger Bootle, economic adviser at Deloitte and Touche.

In the past few weeks, a wide spectrum of stores including clothes retailer Next, bookseller Ottakar's and ceramic specialist Topps Tiles have warned that consumers are staying away from the High Street.

The CBI reported that UK retail sales fell at their fastest pace for six months in March.

And on Thursday, Boots warned that sales growth is likely to be "subdued" over the next 12 months.

"The state of the economy into the spring is not yet clear so a rate rise this month would have been both risky and premature," said the CBI's chief economic adviser Ian McCafferty.

The housing market also appears to be cooling, although recent reports from mortgage lenders have produced conflicting results.

The March survey from the Nationwide building society reported the biggest monthly drop in prices for 10 years, while rival lender Halifax reported that house prices rose 0.5% during the month.

More in tomorrow's Northern Echo.