(RTTNews) - Wednesday, the minutes of the latest rate-setting session of Bank of England showed that the Monetary Policy Committee split three ways in July.

The minutes of the MPC session held on July 9 and 10 revealed that seven policymakers voted in favor to maintain the base rate at 5% in July and two members voted against. The central bank held the base rate unchanged for the third month in a row after a 25 basis point cut in April, the third since December 2007.

Out of the two members opposing the proposition, Tim Besley called for a quarter point hike, while David Blanchflower sought a 25 basis point cut. A similar three-way split in the MPC was last seen in May 2006.

In April 2008 when the central bank decided to cut the rate the bank rate by 25 basis points to 5.0% three policymakers had voted against the proposition, out of which known hawkish members Besley and Andrew Sentance preferred to maintain the rate at 5.25%. Meanwhile, a well-known dovish rate-setter, Blanchflower had sought an immediate reduction of 50 basis points to 4.75%.

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