UK consumer confidence down

British consumer confidence held at the lowest level in at least four years in August after economic growth stalled, Nationwide Building Society said.

An index of sentiment taken from the responses of 1,000 people in a survey stayed at 52, the same as in July, which was the lowest since the survey began in May 2004, the UK's second- biggest mortgage lender said in a statement yesterday.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government suspended a tax on some home purchases and pledged to accelerate 1 billion pounds ($1.8 billion) of spending on Tuesday to help reverse the housing slump. The fastest inflation in at least a decade will prevent the Bank of England from bolstering the economy by cutting interest rates today, economists say.