The Bank of England has chosen to hold UK interest rates at 0.5 percent.

Analysts  had fully expected the Monetary Policy Committee to be split 7:2 in favor of leaving interest rates on hold this time around – as such the 8:1 verdict came as a shock, with Ian McCafferty the lone voice calling for a rate rise.

In a dump of information today, known as Super Thursday, the Bank not only announced its rate decision for the month, but also published the minutes and the forecasts underlying its move. Minutes of the bank’s monthly meeting showed “some members” saw a risk the inflation could pick up stronger than the central forecast.

Those expectations are for the BOE to begin lifting its benchmark short-term rate of 0.5%, where it has been pegged since early 2009, in the first half of 2016.

However, Williamson said a rate hike later this year remained a “distinct possibility”, as members would want to see stronger data than the latest PMI readings before feeling comfortable about voting for higher borrowing costs.

Economists on the street continue to remain positive about the growth in the UK economy and believe that the slightly lower reading would deter the hawks in the Bank of England to hike interest rates any time in the near future. 

Stock market turmoil in China and Greece’s unresolved debt problems casts a small shadow on the global economic outlook, the BoE said.

In an added twist, it’s the first time this year that the MPC, which decides rates, is expected to be divided over whether Base Rate should be raised from the six-year record low.

Commentators now believe it is unlikely there will be an interest rate rise this year, with markets anticipating an increase next February at the earliest. Savings rates are increasing slightly and there are still current accounts paying up to 5% interest.