Business leaders in Birmingham and Solihull welcome today's decision by the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to extend quantitative easing by £25 billion.

Interest rates remain unchanged at a record low of 0.5%, since March of this year.

Katie Teasdale, Head of Policy at Birmingham and Solihull Chamber of Commerce said: "The Chamber's most recent Quarterly Economic Survey indicates that cash flow still remains a major concern for the business community.  So today's decision to raise quantitative easing to £200 billion, with appropriate pressure on bank lending, is the right one.

"The USA and other countries in Europe have now pulled out of the recession, which has put pressure on the MPC to take appropriate measures.  GDP has shrunk by a further 0.4 per cent since March of this year, making this the longest recession in recorded history."

Ms. Teasdale added: "The effects of quantitative easing will take time to filter through, but if the MPC had done nothing, allowing the recession to continue, the economy would have sunk into deflation.

"It will also further help manufacturers, who bounced back from a weak August with the biggest monthly rise in output for more than seven years during September."