Bank of England united in freezing rates, stimulus

Bank of England policymakers voted unanimously in favour of keeping British interest rates at a record low earlier this month and maintaining its stimulus policy, the BoE said on Wednesday. Minutes from the central bank's policy meeting on September 5-6 revealed that all nine policymakers voted to keep its key rate at 0.50 percent, where it has stood since March 2009. The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) were also united in maintaining the size of the bank's asset purchasing programme, or quantitative easing (QE) stimulus, at £375 billion ($597 billion, 473 billion euros). However, the minutes did state that growth was expected to be "subdued and uncertain", and some MPC members signalled that more QE was likely to be required. "For most members this (QE) decision was relatively straightforward, although some of these members felt that additional stimulus was more likely than not to be needed in due course, while others saw the risks to inflation in the medium term as being more balanced around the target," the minutes read. Under QE, the central bank creates new cash that is used to purchase assets such as government and corporate bonds in a bid to increase lending by retail banks and boost economic activity. "September's MPC minutes do little to diminish the prospects of further policy stimulus over the coming months," said Capital Economics Martin Beck. He added: "We still expect another £50 billion of asset purchases to be announced at November's meeting and for QE to ultimately reach £500 billion. "We also think there continues to be a decent chance of an interest rate cut in November." Official data showed Tuesday that British annual inflation slowed slightly to a rate of 2.5 percent in August, increasing the chances of more stimulus from the BoE, according to analysts. The 12-month rate compared with inflation of 2.6 percent in July. With inflation falling last month, experts said that the prospect of more QE had increased. While printing new money is seen as inflationary, a drop in price inflation gives the BoE room to manoeuvre.