The Bank of England has made a shock one-and-a-half percentage point cut in UK interest rates to 3%, the lowest level since 1955.
The size of the cut - the most dramatic since 1981 - signals the Bank's concern the UK is heading for a long recession, the BBC's economics editor says.
It follows an emergency cut in rates last month from 5% to 4.5%.
However, banks are expected to take their time deciding whether to pass on the cut to mortgage holders and savers.
The cut was followed by the European Central Bank lowering its eurozone interest rates from 3.75% to 3.25%.
The interest rate cuts come as the IMF predicts that developed economies will contract for the whole of the coming year for the first time since World War Two.
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The size of the cut - the most dramatic since 1981 - signals the Bank's concern the UK is heading for a long recession, the BBC's economics editor says.
It follows an emergency cut in rates last month from 5% to 4.5%.
However, banks are expected to take their time deciding whether to pass on the cut to mortgage holders and savers.
The cut was followed by the European Central Bank lowering its eurozone interest rates from 3.75% to 3.25%.
The interest rate cuts come as the IMF predicts that developed economies will contract for the whole of the coming year for the first time since World War Two.
full story
