Investing.com – The Bank of England kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged for the 31st consecutive month in October and announced a GBP75 billion increase to its asset purchase program, it said on Thursday.
The BoE said it was maintaining the benchmark interest rate at 0.50%, in a widely expected move.
The bank also said it was to increase the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves by GBP75 billion to GBP275 billion.
The minutes of the meeting of the bank’s monetary policy committee will be published on Wednesday, October 19.
Following the decision, the pound dropped to a 15-month low against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD tumbling 1.02% to trade at 1.5305, the pair’s lowest since July 23, 2010.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly higher. The FTSE 100 rose 2.3%, the EURO STOXX 50 climbed 2.25%, France’s CAC 40 rallied 2.5%, while Germany's DAX jumped 2.3%.
The BoE said it was maintaining the benchmark interest rate at 0.50%, in a widely expected move.
The bank also said it was to increase the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves by GBP75 billion to GBP275 billion.
The minutes of the meeting of the bank’s monetary policy committee will be published on Wednesday, October 19.
Following the decision, the pound dropped to a 15-month low against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD tumbling 1.02% to trade at 1.5305, the pair’s lowest since July 23, 2010.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly higher. The FTSE 100 rose 2.3%, the EURO STOXX 50 climbed 2.25%, France’s CAC 40 rallied 2.5%, while Germany's DAX jumped 2.3%.