LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The Bank of England kept its
powder dry on Thursday, voting as expected not to buy more
government bonds despite the economy teetering on the verge of
another contraction.
After a two-day meeting, the BoE's nine-member Monetary
Policy Committee said its main interest rate would stay at 0.5
percent and that it would not extend its gilt purchases beyond
the 375 billion pounds' worth ($600 billion) bought so far.
None of the 64 economists polled by Reuters had expected a
change in interest rates or in the BoE's total target for
quantitative easing.
Worries about Britain's stubborn inflation are likely to
have dissuaded policymakers from taking further action this
month, while they await clearer signals on the health of the
economy and further indications on the progress of a central
bank scheme aimed at boosting lending.
Economists are roughly split on whether the BoE will restart
its asset purchases in future, although no restart is expected
before February at the earliest, when the BoE publishes its next
quarterly economic update.
The BoE will release the minutes of its meeting on Jan. 23.