Quantitative easing has been maintained at £200 billion, the Bank of England (BoE) announced today (December 10th).
Policymakers at the bank also said that they would maintain interest rates at their record low of 0.5 per cent.
The radical rate-cutting measures imposed by the BoE over late 2008 and early 2009 – coupled with the launch of the money-printing quantitative easing programme – has had an impact on annuity rates.
Figures from Investment, Life & Pensions Moneyfacts showed recently that the annuity rate for male retirees fell by 10.8 per cent between September 2008 and September 2009.
Females suffered a still sharper decline of 11 per cent.
This trend has led to people’s retirement incomes being lowered – increasing the potential popularity of non-pension income sources such as lifetime mortgageshome reversion plans.
The BoE has maintained its rate at 0.5 per cent since March 2008.
Last summer, the lending rate stood at over five per cent.
Posted by Richard Planner
