UK Central Bank approves to pump cash

LONDON - Agence France-Presse

Pedestrians pass The Bank of England in the city of London last week.REUTERS Photo

Bank of England policymakers voted 7-2 earlier this month to inject Britain’s faltering economy with an extra £50 billion ($79 billion), minutes of their meeting showed yesterday.

The two who voted against had wanted stimulus totalling £75 billion, the minutes added. All nine policymakers voted to keep the BoE’s key lending rate at a record low 0.50 percent, where they have stood for almost three years.

The BoE rate has stood at 0.50 percent since March 2009 when it began injecting £200 billion into the economy under a radical policy known as Quantitative Easing (QE).

The central bank opted last October to increase the QE amount to £275 billion, before announcing on Feb. 9 its intention to pump out an extra £50 billion -- bringing the total to £325 billion.

Under QE, the central bank creates new cash that is used to purchase assets such as government and corporate bonds in the hope of giving a boost to lending and economic activity.

Two members of the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee, David Miles and Adam Posen voted at the last meeting to hike QE to £350 billion.