Bank of England keeps interest rates at record low

The Bank of England kept interest rates at a record low on Thursday as the risk of a new recession in the euro zone and caution from the US Federal Reserve suggested a first increase in British borrowing costs might be delayed.

The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee left its main rate at 0.5 per cent, the level at which it has sat since the worst of the financial crisis five-and-a-half years ago.

The decision to keep rates unchanged was expected by all 60 economists who took part in a Reuters poll.

The MPC also said it remained committed to keeping at £375 billion the stockpile of assets which it acquired under its programme of government bond purchases.

The MPC made no other statement on the outlook for monetary policy or the economy.

Reuters