The pound was little changed against the dollar before the Bank of England releases the minutes of its last policy meeting and Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne delivers his annual budget. Sterling was 0.5 percent from its strongest level in five weeks versus the euro after Cyprus’s parliament rejected a proposed levy on bank deposits formulated by European Union ministers to ensure the country’s financial rescue from a banking crisis. The Bank of England is due to release the minutes of the March 7 meeting before Osborne unveils his budget for the fiscal year ending March 2014. The pound traded at $1.5097 as of 7:51 a.m. London time. Sterling was 0.2 percent weaker at 85.46 pence per euro after appreciating to 85.05 pence, the strongest level since Feb. 11. Bank of England Governor Mervyn King, Paul Fisher and David Miles voted to increase the target for bond purchases by 25 billion pounds to 400 billion pounds on Feb. 7, according to the minutes of that meeting released on Feb. 20. Officials said then they “stand ready� to increase quantitative easing to support the recovery. Sterling has weakened 7.1 percent against the greenback this year amid speculation the Bank of England will boost its so-called quantitative easing program to revive the economy and counter the impact of Osborne’s austerity program. The central bank last increased the target for bond purchases in July, boosting it by 50 billion pounds to 375 billion pounds. Gilt Sales After Osborne’s budget speech, the Debt Management Office will announce funding needs for the next fiscal year. The median forecast from 19 of 21 primary dealers that trade directly with the debt agency was 161 billion pounds in a Bloomberg News survey, down from 164.2 billion pounds planned for the current fiscal year. A government report today is forecast to show the number of Britons claiming unemployment benefits declined last month. Claims fell 5,000 last month, following a 12,500 decline in January, the Office for National Statistics in London will say today, according to the median estimate of 27 economists in a Bloomberg survey. U.K. government bonds have earned 1.2 percent this month through yesterday, according to indexes compiled by Bloomberg and the European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies. To contact the reporter on this story: Lukanyo Mnyanda in Edinburgh at lmnyanda@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net.

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