BOE keeps rate and QE target on hold, as expected

type='html'>    The Bank of England left its official Bank Rate unchanged at 0.5 percent, as widely expected, and also left the size of its asset purchase program unchanged at 375 billion pounds.
    The BOE, the central bank for the United Kingdom, said in a brief statement that its current asset purchase program, known as Quantitative Easing, would take another month to complete and "the scale of the program me will be kept under review."
    The BOE has kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged since March 2009 when it also started its program of buying bonds to inject money directly into the economy. The asset purchase program has been expanded several times since then, most recently in July by 50 billion pounds. 
    With the bond purchases due to be completed in November, economists had expected to bank to remain on hold this month and then again increase the size of the program next month given the weak state of the economy.
   The UK economy has contracted for three quarters in a row, shrinking by 0.4 percent in the second quarter from the first quarter, for an annual decline of 0.5 percent.
    The UK inflation rate eased to 2.5 percent in August, down from 2.6 percent in July. The BOE targets inflation of 2.0 percent.
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