The Bank of England has kept interest rates at 0.5% and decided against more quantitative easing (QE).

Policymakers took the decision at the first interest rate meeting chaired by new governor Mark Carney as the latest data suggests the UK economy may be showing signs of a recovery.

Any immediate pressure on Mr Carney to extend QE was eased by positive data coming out of the manufacturing, construction and services sectors this week.

However, many analysts believe it may only be a matter of time before the Canadian feels the need to turn to more QE in a bid to further boost the economy if GDP continues to lag some way beneath its pre-recession peak.

The degree of opposition to further QE among the committee's members at their latest meeting is not yet known, though it seems unlikely Mr Carney would have gone out on a limb against the other members at such an early stage in the job especially given the string of defeats experienced by his predecessor Sir Mervyn King during his final months in the job.

Sir Mervyn recently suggested that while Mr Carney may be renowned for his powers of persuasion he nevertheless still only holds one vote on the committee.

Analysts will no doubt be watching with interest as Mr Carney becomes more established in his role and the effects of his approach on the economy.

Industry insiders from the residential property market will also be keeping close tabs on things, amid recent signs of increasing activity following on from a series of initiatives designed to get things moving once again.

The positive feeling has also been enhanced in recent weeks with the news that revisions by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have resulted in the double-dip recession at the end of 2011 and first half of 2012 being erased from the record books.

However, the revised figures represented mixed fortunes, as they showed that the initial recession following the financial crisis was far worse than first feared and that means the economy is now even further behind its pre-crash levels than previously thought.

The ONS figures suggest that GDP is now 3.9% lower than its peak in the first quarter of 2008, whereas it was previously believed to be 2.6% below that level.

Some experts think Mr Carney will take a proactive approach from next month in an effort to drag the economy back to sustained growth, possibly opting for more QE and issuing "forward guidance" to reassure markets that interest rates will stay at a low level in the future.