Including mortgages, the UK rate hit three per cent, its lowest for six years.
The annual UK rate now stands at 11 to 14 per 100,000 of the population.
It will have a default rate lower than the UK rate and they can take a decision.
The expectation for lower UK rates in the mid-term is partly behind sterling's recent weakness.
This expectation was only partly fulfilled, even though UK rates fell to 10%.
Ignoring these components for the present, we can simply consider a population growing at say, 0.5% per annum(1 in 200 - roughly the UK rate).
In computing the corresponding tax, lower UK rates of tax on small companies are considered.
At present, the current UK rate is the same for first-weight mail, but there are proposals for this to change.
German rate inaction left many high street retailers weaker as a cut might have influenced UK rates.
The UK rate of homicide was also below that of Canada in 2006 (1.86 per 100,000).