Interest rates have been kept on hold at 0.5% by the Bank of England, meaning that rates will stay at their current record low for an 18th month.

The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) also decided not to inject any more money into the economy under its policy of quantitative easing (QE).

The holding of the interest rate had been expected but calls for an increase to help ease inflation are growing. However, the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) has backed the decision.

"The MPC made the right decision by leaving interest rates and the quantitative easing programme unchanged this month. However, uncertainty over future interest rate policy is damaging confidence. Businesses cannot properly plan for recovery without clear knowledge that rate rises will be off the agenda for an extended period," said David Kern, chief economist at the BCC.

"Global risks of an economic setback appear to be worsening, so the welcome news that UK GDP strengthened in the second quarter of 2010 must not lead to complacency. While the eurozone's problems remain unresolved, there are now worrying signs of a slowdown in the US and even in China."