BUSINESS leaders in Derbyshire have welcomed a Bank of England decision not to pump more cash into the economy.

So far, the bank has injected £200bn of fresh money into the economy, in a process known as quantitative easing. The Bank decided on Thursday not to inject further cash and also held interest rates at 0.5%.

George Cowcher, chief executive of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce, said: "Economic growth at the back end of 2009 was extremely lacklustre and the Bank of England has already lost face over its inflation targets, so its no surprise the committee has taken a cautious approach."

Andy Lyon, senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, at Castle Donington, said: "Given the committee's decision to call a halt to its quantitative easing programme over the coming months, Derbyshire businesses will hope the £200bn stimulus continues to translate into further growth in the economy."