Bank Of England Leaves Rates, QE Unchanged

The Bank of England made no changes to monetary policy at its meeting on Thursday, as expected. The central bank maintained its lending rate at a record low of 0.5%, where it has stood since March 2009, and kept its quantitative easing program unchanged at 375 billion pounds ($571 billion). The move was widely expected by economists, as inflation in the U.K. has dropped to a 14-month low at 0.5%, which is far from the targeted 2%. The pound was unchanged at $1.5244 after the rate decision, but higher than the $1.5184 recorded late Wednesday in New York. The FTSE 100 index fell 0.4% to 6,832.29, hit by jitters over Greece.