The pound fell to an eight-month low against the dollar after Bank of England minutes showed officials considered adding extra stimulus to the economy. Sterling weakened for the first time in four days versus the euro as minutes of the September meeting showed policy makers said growth in the second half of 2011 may be “materially weaker” than projected in August. The Federal Reserve may announce a third round of asset purchases after a two-day meeting today to stoke growth and reduce unemployment. “The Bank of England is making clear that further measures will be used if the situation worsens and therefore the pound reacted negatively to the minutes,” said You-Na Park, a foreign-exchange strategist at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “What is quite clear is that the outlook for the U.K. and the global economy is very uncertain and there are a lot of downside risks.” The pound declined 0.6 percent to $1.5644 at 10:09 a.m. in London, after falling to $1.5614, the weakest since Jan. 12. The currency depreciated 0.4 percent to 87.42 pence per euro. The minutes of the Sept. 8 meeting showed most of the nine- member Monetary Policy Committee said an expansion of their 200 billion-pound bond purchase program was “increasingly probable.” The committee voted 8-1 to maintain the current size of the bond plan and was unanimous in keeping the benchmark rate at a record low of 0.5 percent. U.K. government bonds fell, trimming three days of gains. The yield on the 10-year gilt climbed two basis points to 2.41 percent. Two-year yields rose one basis point to 0.54 percent. Short-sterling futures extended gains after the minutes were released. The implied yield on the June 2012 contract dropped six basis points to 0.83 percent, signaling investors added to bets for lower interest rates. To contact the reporter on this story: Emma Charlton in London at echarlton1@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Daniel Tilles at dtilles@bloomberg.net.

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