The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted five to four to maintain quantitative easing (QE) at £325bn this month, overruling the governor and three colleagues who called for further expansion.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee has resisted calls for further quantitative easing after leaving its programme of stimulus unchanged, with interest rates also kept on hold.

Economists have suggested scrapping bank holidays in the UK in order to boost the country's struggling economy by as much as £19bn a year.