WE HAVE been in a state of excitement about interest rate decisions for the past few months.

But that is changing.

Tomorrow’s Bank of England monthly announcement is likely to signal an end to rate cuts for some time.

The reason is pretty obvious. At 0.5% already, there is very little room left to cut them any further.

The impression that rates will be left on hold is reinforced by the fact that inflation is not falling at the pace anticipated just a few months ago, when everybody was talking about deflation. Some prices showed signs of edging back up when the last set of inflation figures were published in March.

The real question now is how long will rates be held at 0.5%? My guess is it could be for many months to come. Don’t anticipate a rate rise just yet.

A lack of action by the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee tomorrow reflects the relative impotence of policy makers to do anything more to kick-start the economy. Whether they be central bankers or government ministers, we have already done what can be done. Nothing unveiled in the Budget later this month is likely to change that.

Now all that’s left is for the natural laws of economics to take their course, something that will slowly unfold during the remainder of the year.

The UK economy is in the Doldrums, and government and others will only be able to watch while the numbers of unemployed continues to rise.