The Bank of England held off from further emergency support today, despite the threat of a triple-dip recession hanging over the UK economy.

Policymakers remained in ``wait and see" mode again this month, holding rates at their record low of 0.5% and maintaining the Bank’s quantitative easing (QE) programme at £375bn.

Recent figures estimate the economy slipped back into the red in the final three months of last year, but the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is hopeful that its Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) and a recent fall in the price of sterling will boost the recovery.

Its hopes for the turnaround were given a boost today after the Office for National Statistics reported a 1.6% rise in manufacturing output for December, a figure ahead of City expectations.

The increase in production was in part fuelled by rising exports as the UK’s goods trade deficit narrowed to £8.9 billion in December. The figure remains high by historical standards as the UK attempts to rebalance towards being an export-oriented economy.