Bank of England Holds Monetary Policy Stance Unchanged

The Bank of England (BoE) held the official Bank Rate, which is paid on commercial bank reserves, unchanged at 0.50%, as expected.  The BoE also made no changes to its 200 billion pound asset purchase program.  The Bank does not supply commentary with its monetary policy decisions, however the minutes of the monetary policy committee meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday the 20th of July 2011, according to the Bank's announcement.

The Bank also held the official Bank Rate unchanged at 0.50% at its June meeting this year; the rate has remained on hold since March 2009, when the Bank reduced the interest rate by 50 basis points to 0.50%.  The United Kingdom reported annual consumer price inflation of 4.50% in May and April, up from 4.00% in March, and still above the Bank's inflation target of 2.00%.  The UK saw quarterly GDP growth of 0.5% in Q1 this year, while annual economic growth was reported at 1.8%.

www.CentralBankNews.info