Bank Of England Leaves Rates, QE Unchanged

LONDON – 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.

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