MW: Bank of England seeks permission to boost money supply
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to seek authority from the U.K. Treasury to purchase a range of assets, including government debt and other securities, in an effort to increase the money supply, according to minutes of the nine-member panel's meeting on Feb. 4 and 5 released Wednesday. The move comes amid fears that further cuts in interest rates wouldn't be enough to prevent inflation from falling well below the bank's 2% annual target. The MPC also voted 8-1 in favor of cutting the bank's key lending rate a half point to 1%. David Blanchflower, the sole dissenter, argued for cutting the rate a full point to 0.5%.
