An opportunity to boost the confidence of small firms has been missed with the news that interest rates are to stay on hold for another month, according to one industry body.
Nick Palin, director of finance and administration for the Forum of Private Business (FPB), believes that the Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) should have taken action to address the concerns of business holders.
He said: "Small firms will feel disappointed and abandoned yet again, as they have done for the past five months."
Research conducted by the FPB at the start of the year found that 59 per cent of small business owners believe that "spiralling" interest rates have a negative or very negative impact on investment.
Yesterday, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) urged the MPC to cut interest rates in coming months in order to avoid a "major recession".
According to the BCC, the move should come as soon as inflation peaks.
