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BoE keeps benchmark interest rate at 0.5 pct

Xinhua, February 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Bank of England (BoE), Britain's central bank, maintained the benchmark interest rate at the record low of 0.5 percent, BoE announced on Thursday.

At BoE' s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting ending on Wednesday, the MPC voted 9-0 to maintain the rates unchanged.

The Committee voted unanimously to maintain the stock of purchased assets financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at 375 billion pounds (about 548 billion U.S. dollars).

"Yesterday's decision was taken amid sluggish global growth, turbulent financial markets, but the ongoing resilience of the UK financial system and its private domestic demand," the BoE's Governor Mark Carney said.

The MPC sets monetary policy in order to meet the 2 percent inflation target and in a way that helps to sustain growth and employment.

In its meeting summary, 12-month CPI inflation rose to 0.2 percent in December, almost 2 percentage points below the inflation target. Endit