Even though the economy appears to be growing adequately, the public finances have not been looking particularly good over the course of 2003. Towards the end of 2003, public spending was running way ahead budget, increasing by 9.8% per year, compared to a forecast of 7.0% per year. As a result of this, in November of 2003 The Bank of England decided to increase interest rates for the first time in four years. This is a method of monetary control, known as Monetary Policy. .
Monetary Policy refers to the attempts to manipulate the rate of interest or money supply in order to bring about changes in the economy. It required when Governments feel the need to stimulate or holdback the economy by manipulating the level of spending. In the case of the UK recently, the Labour Governments' aim has been to control household consumption by raising interest rates. Their reason for doing this is due to the increase in consumer spending which has resulted in an increase in prices, i.e. house prices. This rise in prices can result in inflation. Therefore, in order to prevent inflation occurring, the Government need to encourage consumer saving and reduce spending, resulting in a decrease in the amount of money in the economy. The most successful way to do this is by increasing the interest rates. .
Despite a rise in interest rates to 3.75% in November of 2003, shoppers in the UK spent a record £11.56bn on their credit cards in the very same month, according to official figures. This dependency on credit cards has led to concern over personal bankruptcies. This suggests that the rise in interest rates has not had the desired effect on the consumer that the Government hoped for. However, the Bank of England released figures in this same month stating that mortgage lending fell to £8.6bn, a decline of almost £1bn from the previous month. This would suggest that the housing market is on course to slow down during 2004, creating the desired effect.
