Investing.com - The pound fell to the day’s lows after the Bank of England slashed interest rates to record lows and boosted its quantitative easing program to offset the effects of the June 23 vote to exit the European Union.
GBP/USD dropped 1.09% to 1.3182 from around 1.3326 ahead of the decision.
The BoE cut interest rates to a record-low 0.25% in a bid to buffer the economy from a downturn following the U.K. referendum vote.
The central bank also boosted its quantitative easing program by £60 billion and slashed its growth forecast for next year.
It now expects growth of just 0.8% in 2017, down from 2.3% in its May forecasts.
Almost all economists had expected the BoE to cut rates and many also expected it to resume its multi-billion-pound program of government bond purchases.
The BoE last cut rates in March 2009 in a bid to cushion the U.K. economy from the global financial crisis
The decision came a day after survey data indicating that the U.K. economy is sliding into a mild recession.
Market research company Markit said its monthly all-sector Purchasing Managers' Index recorded the steepest month-on-month decline on record after sharp slowdowns in activity at private-sector services, manufacturing and construction firms.
Sterling also slumped against the euro, with EUR/GBP advancing 0.93% to 0.8446 from 0.8355 earlier.