The minutes of the MPC meeting from 5-6 November reiterated the 7-2 divide of the committee members in favour of keeping ultra-low interest rates on hold, with two members continuing to back an early rate hike.

Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale are the two MPC members that have been voting for an early 0.25 per cent rate hike since August.

The report caused sterling to rise from the one-year low it briefly touched this morning against the US dollar to trade at $1.5674 by mid-afternoon.

One of the key worries for policymakers, which was emphasises at the latest meeting, was inflation, following the downbeat Inflation Report published by the central bank last week.

The quarterly report predicted inflation will fall below 1 per cent in the next six months, with GDP growth predicted to fall from 3.5 per cent this year to 2.9 per cent in 2015 and 2.6 per cent in each of the following years.

Despite the Bank’s more muted forecasts, the MPC minutes showed there was a “material spread of views on the balance of risks to the outlook” for the UK economy.

While some members argued the economy is facing deflationary pressures, others said inflation could overshoot the 2 per cent target if spare capacity is eliminated too quickly. In October inflation rose from 1.2 per cent to 1.3 per cent, but remains on a broader downward trend.