The pound rose this morning (March 20th) as minutes from the latest Bank of England (BoE) meeting revealed policymakers are still divided over increasing the country's quantitative easing (QE) programme.
Minutes released today show the central bank's monetary policy committee voted 6-3 against making further asset purchases this month.
Many forex analysts were expecting the amount of QE to be raised from its current level of £375 billion, while the majority anticipated a closer vote at the very least.
Despite this, sterling's gains are unlikely to last, with chancellor George Osborne set to announce his 2013 Budget today. He is widely thought to be planning to alter the BoE's remit, giving it more power to stimulate growth in addition to controlling inflation.
These are measures sought by the incoming governor Mark Carney, who will replace Sir Mervyn King in July.
