Bank of England keeps interest rate at 0.5 pc

The Bank of England is holding its key lending rate at a record low
level of 0.5 percent and maintaining its credit-easing plans amid
signs of improvement in recession-hit Britain, it said on Thursday.
"The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee today voted to
maintain the official bank rate paid on commercial bank reserves at
0.5 percent," the BoE said in a statement after a two-day meeting.
"The committee also voted to continue with its programme of asset
purchases totalling 175 billion pounds (194 billion euros, 287
billion dollars) financed by the issuance of central bank reserves."
Earlier this year, in March, the central bank slashed borrowing costs
to the current record low level and launched a radical quantitative
easing (QE) policy in an attempt to lift Britain out of recession.