Cheap rates for personal loans

Economists predict that UK interest rates will remain static for some time to come, meaning personal loans will remain good value.

A survey of 41 analysts, conducted by business monitor Bloomberg, resulted in a 39-strong consensus that the Bank of England would hold the rate at 4.75 per cent deep into the New Year.

Stewart Robinson, a director at Lombard Street Research, said: "It's pretty clear we're not going to see another rise for quite some time . . . The bank can afford to wait."

Audrey Childe-Freeman, from CIBC Markets, saw a potential jolt to the rate in the winter.

"We might see one last rate increase in February . . . You could see the consumer start to feel they've seen the rate peak and go out spending again," he said.

The majority of those surveyed said that the Government's efforts to cool consumer spending and the bubbling house market were showing clear signs of paying off, with spending down and house prices beginning to contract

Looking at the future health of the economy as a whole, head of economic research at Societe Generale, Brian Hilliard, predicted: "There will probably be some downward revisions to the growth and inflation projections."