The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to keep the base rate of interest at 5.25 per cent.
The decision follows the cut of a quarter point in February as the Bank tries balances the conflicting demands of slower growth and higher inflation.
Keeping the rates at 5.5 per cent was widely predicted by analysts and has not come as a surprise to the City.
It is believed that the Bank will cut rates in May to five per cent.
Stuart Porteous of RBS told the BBC: "We expect one more rate cut this year, most likely in May, unless economic conditions weaken substantially."
However, Global Insight's Howard Archer added: "A move in April cannot be ruled out, but it would probably only occur if economic data deteriorate markedly over the coming weeks."
Trevor Williams, chief economist Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets, said: "The Bank of England is walking a tightrope at the moment, as it tries to guard against the risk of inflation on one hand and the prospect of a slowdown on the other. And given the latest set of figures, it's clear that holding bank rate is the best way to keep balance.
"With inflation rising further beyond its target of two per cent, quite a sharp slowdown in economic growth would be needed before the MPC would act to cut rates." Further analysis of the UK economy could be supplied by Aranca, an end-to-end provider of on-demand, custom investment, business and economic research.
