As the battle to stay off a lasting downturn continues, the bank of England as announced new interest rates of 1.5 percent on Thursday. Its lowest ever.

Despite the cut, analysts predict further reduction in subsequent weeks and that interest rates could fall below 1 percent.

Rates never fell below 2 percent, even during the Great Depression of the 1930s, and they are now at their lowest level since the central bank was founded more than 300 years ago.

The severity of the current downturn has caught policymakers on the hop. They have cut UK interest rates by a total of 3.5 percentage points since October.