BBC economics reporter Chris Giles asks whether businesses and unions have a valid case in calling for UK interest rates to be kept on hold.

Businesses and unions are trying to put pressure on the nine members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee to keep interest rates on hold at 5.75%.

They say there is no need to raise rates because there is no sign of inflation.

For almost all of the short life of Monetary Policy Committee, manufacturing businesses have tried to persuade the Bank of England to lower interest rates.

They have complained loudly when rates go up. And their complaints almost every month have meant they have gained a reputation alongside farmers and retailers as the biggest moaners in British industry.

Their main gripe is that higher interest rates increase their costs and make them less competitive.

Higher interest rates make the financing of their borrowing and investment more expensive.

Exporters also say that it drives up the value of the pound making their products less competitive in global markets.

Growth improving

Quite a few statistics suggest that manufacturers and exporters have been doing rather better recently than they like to suggest. Industrial production in November was 2.1% up on a year earlier and growth is accelerating.

The Confederation of British Industry released a survey this week showing that total manufacturing orders and output were expected to rise over the next four months.

The only cloud on the horizon in the survey was that export orders had fallen in about half of Britain, particularly in the north of England.

Industry bosses use the trouble certain exporters are having to say there must not be another interest rate increase.

That they claim would send the pound even higher. But the link between interest rates and the value of the pound has been almost non existent over the past few years.

Sterling defies rate changes

The pound rose sharply in Autumn 1996 and since then, it has fluctuated in a range of just over 10% either way.

These fluctuations have not reflected interest rates movements. For example, the pound rose in value through most of last year as interest rates were cut sharply.

So although the high value of the pound is clearly a worry for exporters, there is no guarantee holding rates at 5.75% would result in it falling.

So the points many businesses make aren't well founded. The Bank of England's dilemma on Thursday is to balance the lack of evidence of rising inflation in the economy with the knowledge that in the past, economic growth at current rates does generate inflation.

It's likely to be quite a close call.

The Monetary Policy Committee watchers in the City are convinced there will be a rate rise, but they're not always right and firms might be cheering at noon on Thursday.