Bank of England unanimous on rates, stimulus

Associated Press

LONDON — The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee was unanimous this month in keeping the interest rates and the economic stimulus program unchanged.

Minutes of the MPC meeting released Wednesday show all but one of its nine members are open to another increase in the stimulus program — called quantitative easing — in coming months.

Many analysts believe the Bank will increase the stimulus program above the current 375 billion pounds ($610 billion) in November.

The minutes showed the committee is waiting to gauge the effectiveness of a new 80 billion pounds Funding for Lending program.

The minutes said the success of the program, meant to boost credit, was difficult to predict because of heightened uncertainty, mainly in the eurozone, and the reluctance of U.K. households and businesses to spend.