In its meeting today, the Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) has decided to maintain interest rates at five per cent. This will be the third time the committee has decided not changed the rate this year and follows cuts of 0.25 per cent which were actioned in both April and February.

Resulting from the MPC's decision, it is probable that consumers do not find any increased pressures on their finances. And during the current economic climate, at least homeowners should find that their mortgage repayments do not increase. Additionally, people could also discover that their is no increased pressure in managing other monetary demands - such as personal loans, credit and store cards and utility bills.

Barclays Stockbrokers equity strategist Henk Potts stated: "The monetary policy committee is caught between a slow growth rock and a high inflation hard place. UK economic growth is clearly moderating; consensus forecasts are for growth of just 1.6 per cent this year compared to the three per cent expansion recorded in 2007. However, outside the housing market and survey data, there is little hard evidence of a marked slowdown in UK aggregate demand."

He also claims that headline inflation is set to "stay high" for the rest of this year, also likely to move likely to move up from the current rate of 2.4 per cent is the consumer price index inflation. The increase in the latter was attributed towards increasing energy prices and continuing depreciation of the pound. However, he feels that the Bank of England is due to carry out further reductions to the base rate, with this he feels likely to stand at 4.25 per cent by the end of the year.

Director general at the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), Michael Cougan claimed that although the MPC was required to strike a balance between slowing economic growth and rising inflationary pressures when making its decision, it is "disappointing" that they had missed a chance to cut the base rate. He also added that although the mortgage and housing markets are likely to face challenges for the rest of the year, most mortgage payers are "coping well".

However, Mr Coogan also advised those consumers who are having problems managing their money or feel that they may be about to develop problems to get in touch with their finance company or a debt advisory service as soon as possible.

For people who are concerned about their capacity to manage their money as 2008 progresses now might be an ideal time to take out a personal loan. By selecting this type of loan, it is possible that borrowers are able to supplement their spending effectively and make major purchases.

In research carried out by the CML last month it was indicated that an more homeowners are taking out mortgage products which track any changes to the base rate of interest. In February some 35 per cent of consumers were shown to be taking out tracker rate mortgages, an increase of 21 per cent compared to the 14 per cent recorded during the same month in 2007.