MW: BOE voted 8-1 to maintain bond buys at 375B pounds
By William L. Watts
FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- One member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee dissented from the decision earlier this month to hold the bank's bond purchases at 375 billion pounds ($596.2 billion), arguing instead for a 25 billion pound increase. Most members "agreed that maintaining the size of the committee's asset purchase program at this meeting was appropriate," the minutes said. The panel voted 9-0 to leave its key lending rate, known as bank rate, unchanged at a record low 0.5%, where it has stood since March 2009. The minutes said the panel discussed the likely effectiveness of cutting the rate to below 0.5%, but were swayed by analysis that showed such a move could weaken bank balance sheets and potentially undercut lending. The committee "judged that it was unlikely to wish to reduce bank rate in the foreseeable future," the minutes said.
