Some commentators have suggested that an interest rate cut of 0.25% is ‘a foregone conclusion’ at Thursday’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

That’s the message from the latest Markit/CIPS purchasing managers’ index (PMI), which said that business activity in procurement and supply has dropped at its fastest rate since March 2009.

It also noted that employment in the services sector remained unchanged since June, bringing an uninterrupted period of job creation over the past three-and-a-half years to a grinding halt.

At the same time, Brexit-related uncertainty weakened the 12-month outlook for activity in July to the lowest seen since February 2009.

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said: “A quarter-point cut in interest rates therefore seems to be a foregone conclusion at tomorrow’s Monetary Policy Committee meeting, though the extent and nature of other non-standard stimulus measures remains a far greater source of uncertainty and the subject of intense speculation.”

A drop in Base Rate could lead to borrowers on variable rates – such as trackers and discount mortgages – seeing a reduction in their monthly mortgage repayments, depending on the terms of their deal.