The minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) June meeting show that members voted 7-1 in favour of keeping the cost of borrowing at 4%.

Mervyn King, the Bank's deputy governor, was the only one who voted in favour of a rate increase.

I would not be at all surprised if we have to wait for August for a rate hike

George Buckley Deutsche Bank

He argued that a rise would provide a "useful signal" to consumers and house-buyers and reduce the extent to which the interest rate might ultimately need to rise.

Next governor

The rest of the committee, including the governor Sir Edward George, said the arguments for a rate rise were "finely balanced".

The minutes showed that committee members feared that raising rates too soon would risk stifling the economic recovery.

Today's news clearly reassures me that Mr. King is not pulling his punches on interest rates

David Laws MP

Earlier this month Mr King clashed with the Liberal Democrat MP David Laws at a Treasury Select Committee hearing.

The MP demanded an assurance from Mr King that he was not reluctant to vote for rate rises because he wanted to become the next governor of the Bank of England.

The deputy governor gave a "total assurance" and said he hoped for an apology.

August rate rise

After the minutes were published, Mr Laws said: "Today's news clearly reassures me that Mr King is not pulling his punches on interest rates because of the vacant governorship next year."

But he said it strengthened his concern that Mr King's public comments were in danger of reflecting his own views on the need for higher interest rates rather than the majority view of the MPC.

George Buckley at Deutsche Bank said the committee was prepared to leave rates on hold because of the weakness of inflation, and that was before the latest weak inflation figures.

"I would not be at all surprised if we have to wait for August for a rate hike. The lower inflation has bought the MPC extra time," he said.

There were only eight votes in the MPC's June meeting because Sushil Wadhwani's replacement, Marian Bell, does not take up her post until July.