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The Bank of England has made a decision to hold UK interest rates at 0.5 percent.

The BoE chose to keep interest rates at 0.5%, with minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting revealing a vote of 8-1 in favour of this decision.

UK interest rates have been held at 0.5 per cent again by the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

Despite the central bank maintaining the key rate, governor Mark Carney insisted that the time for a hike is moving closer.

But Governor Mark Carney has signaled the bank is “moving closer” to a rate increase as economic growth remains among the fastest among advanced economies.

“In light of the reduction in oil prices and the appreciation of sterling over the past three months, it appeared that the increase in inflation over the following year would be more gradual”, the BOE said in the minutes.

Amid concerns over low inflation and slowing growth in Asia, the Bank of England’s policymakers voted 8-1 to leave the rate at 0.5 percent for a 78th consecutive month and opted not to pump more money into the economy.

One committee member voted against the decision but the MPC voted unanimously to maintain an economic stimulus program which purchases £375 billion ($581.8 billion) in financial assets each year, the bank said in a statement.

Markets have ramped up expectations of a rise in rates several times in the past three years, only to be disappointed.

The BoE’s Inflation Report, showed officials expect annual inflation to tick back up to the 2% target by the third quarter of 2017 if interest rates rise in line with market expectations.

According to the minutes, Mr McCafferty thought that there were risks “of a more significant overshoot of inflation following its return to the target”.

Euro zone bond yields stabilised on Thursday, after a sharp rise the previous day fuelled by concern that the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England were heading for their first interest rate increases in nearly a decade.