Mubasher: The Bank of England (BOE) on Thursday decided to leave its key interest rate unchanged.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) agreed unanimously on holding the rate at 0.75%, with a 9-0 vote.
The MPC also voted unanimously to maintain the stock of government bond purchases, financed by the issuance of the central bank reserves, at GBP 435 billion ($551.71 billion).

Moreover, the stock of non-financial investment-grade corporate bond purchases, would be kept at GBP 10 billion.

“Since the MPC’s previous meeting, the near-term outlook for global growth has softened and downside risks to growth have increased,” the BOE said.

Global financial conditions tightened, specifically in corporate credit markets, but oil prices dropped to the extent that it should boost demand in advanced economies, it noted.

“The decline in oil prices also means that UK CPI [consumer price index] inflation is likely to fall below 2% in coming months,” it said.

By 12:20 pm GMT, the GBP/USD pair climbed 0.58% to $1.2683, while the EUR/GBP pair rose 0.20% to GBP 0.9039.