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BoE maintains benchmark interest rate at 0.5 pct

Xinhua, March 18, 2016 Adjust font size:

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

At BoE' s monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting ending on March 16, all nine of its members voted to freeze the rates.

The committee also voted unanimously to maintain the stock of purchased assets financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at 375 billion pounds (542 billion U.S. dollars).

The decision to keep interest rates and its quantitative easing program on hold was unsurprising amid worries about global growth and uncertainty ahead of the referendum on Britain's European Union membership.

The MPC sets monetary policy in order to meet the 2.0 percent inflation target and in a way that helps sustain growth and employment.

In its meeting summary, 12-month consumer price index (CPI) inflation rose to 0.3 percent in January. Inflation remains well below the 2.0 percent inflation target. Endit