The Bank of England is being urged to not make further interest rate cuts.

Ahead of the monetary policy committee's meeting on tomorrow, the Federation of Small Businesses has revealed that a survey of over 4,000 small businesses showed the recent rate cuts have not provided the expected boost to the economy .

 

According to the poll more than two thirds (63%) want the Bank of England to keep rates at their current level of 1.5%.

Only a quarter (24%) said they would like a rate decrease – down from 58% who called for a rate cut in a similar survey conducted in December 2008.

 

This indicates small businesses are not feeling the impact of the interest rate cuts and that access to finance, rather than the cost, remains a key problem.

 

John Wright, FSB national chairman, said: “Small businesses are clearly worried that this monetary policy has been used extensively over the last few months yet they are still struggling to access cheaper finance.

 

“The concern now is that if rates are cut any further there may not be too much more room for manoeuvre in the economy. The onus is really on the banks to start promoting these lower rates to fire up the economy.”

 

The FSB has more than 215,000 members. More than 4,000 small businesses were surveyed between January 30 and February 2 on the effect of the economic climate.