Bank of England keeps interest rates at record 0.5% low despite expected US rise

The Bank of England ended another year leaving interest rates at record lows as the cost of borrowing was held once more at 0.5%.

Members of the Bank's nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted eight to one to keep rates unchanged in its final decision of 2015, as they have done now for more than six years.

The decision comes as the US Federal Reserve is poised to make its first interest rate increase in nearly a decade, while monetary policy in Europe is moving in completely the opposite direction.

Federal chair Janet Yellen has indicated that a rise in US rates is a near certainty when America's policymakers decide on December 16.

The rise in US rates would be the first since 2006 and there are fears it will trigger market disruption, also coming at a time when the global economy and China's growth have been slowing.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank last week announced a cut to overnight deposit rates from minus 0.2% to minus 0.3% and extended a 60 billion euro (£43 billion) stimulus programme by six months.