Investing.com - The Bank of England kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged in August and announced no change to its asset purchase facility program, it said on Thursday.
The BoE said it was maintaining the benchmark interest rate at 0.50%, in a widely expected move.
The central bank also said it was to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £375 billion.
The minutes of the meeting of the central bank’s monetary policy committee will be published on Wednesday, August 20.
Following the announcement, the pound turned lower against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD shedding 0.05% to trade at 1.6847, compared to 1.6860 ahead of the decision.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained lower. London’s FTSE 100 slumped 0.25%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 shed 0.25%, France’s CAC 40 dipped 0.6%, while Germany's DAX declined 0.2%.