The vast majority of the 62 economists in a Reuters poll had forecast the steady rate verdict, and markets are not fully pricing in a quarter-point hike until early 2012.
ANALYSTS' VIEWS:
PHILIP SHAW, INVESTEC
"In recent weeks, relatively soft UK activity data ... had removed any realistic expectations of a rate hike today.
"For now we still view an August hike to be the most likely outturn. However we will be tempted to push this back to November or beyond, should the run of activity data continue to disappoint, or indeed if the tone of next week's Inflation Report is more dovish than we expect.
"Our view of when rates should rise is still that the committee should wait until there are sufficient indications that the fiscal consolidation programme is not impacting the recovery unduly. To our minds this means that rates should not rise until November at the earliest.
"This will have been Andrew Sentance's final MPC meeting, and in June he will be replaced by Ben Broadbent (formerly of Goldman Sachs). We doubt that Broadbent will be as hawkish, but it remains to be seen whether the change of personnel will be sufficient to alter the dynamics on the committee."
HETAL MEHTA, DAIWA CAPITAL MARKETS EUROPE
"No change, so no surprise there. The slew of disappointing data over the past few weeks ensured that any lingering chance of a hike today had evaporated.
"Although high near-term inflation is clearly concerning for the Bank of England, once the increase in VAT and high commodity prices fall out of the annual calculations, it is likely to drop close to the 2 percent target next year.
"And with economic growth set to be subdued, unemployment likely to rise further, continued weakness in credit growth, and stringent fiscal consolidation yet to bite, the majority on the MPC will be in no hurry to tighten monetary policy.
"As such, our view now is that the first rate increase will be pushed back, most probably to early next year."
HOWARD ARCHER, IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT
"The Bank of England's decision to keep interest rates down at 0.5 percent reflects current serious concerns and uncertainties over the state of the economy and its ability to withstand the fiscal squeeze that increasingly kicked in from early April.
"It will be very interesting to see when the minutes of the meeting are published whether or not the MPC were more dovish in view of the recent largely disappointing news on the economy. Martin Weale, who has been voting for an interest rate hike since January has recently admitted that the economy has been softer than he expected.
"Also significantly, the dynamics with the MPC could now change significantly, as the arch hawk Andrew Sentance is now leaving. Of course, it remains to be seen what stance his successor Ben Broadbent takes, but it seems unlikely that he will be as hawkish as Sentance has been."
PHILIP RUSH, NOMURA
"No change in policy had been widely expected going into the meeting, including by us.
"Relative to expectations from as recently as a month ago, this outcome was a surprise, but the revelation of a surprisingly cautious reaction function in the minutes to the MPC's April meeting had readjusted expectations.
"However, while the strength of the recovery has become more questionable, the inflationary news has tended to be to the upside.
"We do not expect there to have been any further changes in the vote split at the May meeting. Although the more hawkish elements of the MPC have sounded more tentative, we expect the rigorous forecast update for the May Inflation Report to allay those concerns and prevent divergence away from the treacherous track to tighter policy."
JAMES KNIGHTLEY, ING FINANCIAL MARKETS
"A combination of weak activity -- GDP disappointing, falling purchasing managers' indices, soft retail sales and weak confidence -- coupled with a surprise drop in CPI to 4 percent from 4.4 percent led the market to price only a 16 percent probability of a rate hike just ahead of the meeting.
"Looking ahead, we see little risk of second round price effects given the lacklustre performance of the labour market.
"Furthermore, with weak growth likely to limit corporate pricing power and the VAT hike falling out of the annual comparison from January next year we see inflation moving below the 2 percent central target for much of 2012.
"Given this it seems to us that November is probably the earliest that the BoE will raise interest rates."
Comments obtained before the decision:
LEE HOPLEY, CHIEF ECONOMIST, ENGINEERING EMPLOYERS' FEDERATION
"The middling growth figures for the start of this year were unlikely to tilt the balance of votes towards a rise this month. The recovery faces some stiff challenges over the rest of the year that could still create the perfect storm that could at best keep the economy on a plateau, or worse force a retreat back down the hill. So long as the underlying economic recovery remains murky the case for a rate rise can't be made until it becomes clearer."
IAN MCCAFFERTY, CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISER, CONFEDERATION OF BRITISH INDUSTRY
"Given the recent mixed signals about the current strength of the economy, it is not surprising that MPC members have decided to keep interest rates on hold again.
"While the recovery continues to make progress, recent economic data show that it is very patchy across sectors, and some parts of the economy remain fragile. However, pipeline inflationary pressures have intensified, with our economic surveys showing rapid cost inflation from increased energy and commodity prices. Our view remains that the Bank is likely to move away from the emergency 0.5% rate later this year."