The Bank of England left its main interest rate at a record low 0.50 percent on Thursday for the 29th month in a row amid weak economic growth in Britain and a debt crisis in the eurozone. The BoE's nine policymakers also decided by a majority vote against pumping more new money into the economy, leaving its quantitative easing (QE) programme at £200 billion ($327 billion, 229 billion euros).
"The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5 percent," a statement said. "The Committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £200 billion."
Minutes of the BoE's two-day policy meeting will be published on August 17 and include explanations for the decisions. Britain's economy, struggling to absorb deep budget cuts, slowed to a trickle in the second quarter, with expansion of only 0.2 percent, official data revealed last week.
However it was partly affected by the royal wedding on Friday, April 29, when many workers were granted a day off by employers to celebrate the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. The International Monetary Fund on Monday maintained its growth forecasts for Britain but warned that risks from the eurozone debt crisis, spending cuts and volatile commodity prices could demand a change to BoE policy. The central bank slashed interest rates to 0.50 percent more than two years ago, in March 2009, when it also launched its radical QE stimulus programme that helped drag Britain out of a deep recession.