THE decision to put the Bank of England in charge of setting interest rates was last night judged to have been successful by economists.

As the Bank held its hundredth meeting after taking control of the base rate eight years ago, experts said the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) was achieving its aims.

Chancellor Gordon Brown gave the Bank responsibility for rates in May 1997, in a bid to deliver stability.

Ross Walker, economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland, said the MPC's reign had been a success, although he pointed out that the economic backdrop had been more favourable than during the 1970s and 1980s.

He said: ''To some extent, they have been operating in an environment where the inflation picture has been favourable.

"The UK isn't the only economy in the world to be benefiting from benign inflation.''

David Page, economist at Investec Securities, said the Bank had done a good job, keeping inflation steady over the period. He said it had been a ''leading light'' to other central banks.

He said: ''The MPC is tasked with writing a letter to the Chancellor if inflation moves far from its target, and they have never had to write one. If you had said that to anyone in May 1997 they would have laughed."

Despite the approval by economists, MPs on the Treasury Select Committee have expressed concern about the number of unanimous decisions delivered by the MPC. Voting has been unanimous at almost half of all MPC meetings, although this has become slightly less common in recent years.

* The MPC is expected to cut interest rates when it meets today.