LONDON (SHARECAST) - Bank of England policy makers voted unanimously in September to keep interest rates on hold and its asset purchase scheme at its current level.
The latest details of their meeting showed most members found the decision to keep quantitative easing (QE) at its current level "relatively straightforward".
Some analysts had expected the minutes of this month's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting to show an increased appetite for further QE.
In July the MPC voted to increase the stimulus plan by £50bn to £375bn.
The Committee saw inflation falling back more slowly than previously anticipated, but noted growth was expected to be “subdued and uncertain”.
It seems only one person at the meeting wavered on voting for more QE.
The minutes noted that "for one member, the decision this month was more finely balanced, since it was not clear that the uncertainties about the medium-term outlook would be resolved to any great extent in the coming months and, given the weakness in demand, a good case could be made at this meeting for announcing more asset purchases".
However, the discussion showed that "although some of these members felt that additional stimulus was more likely than not to be needed in due course...others saw the risks to inflation in the medium term as being more balanced around the target".
With inflation falling and extra stimulus measures recently announced by the US Federal Reserve and by the Bank of Japan, there are expectations that the Bank of England will follow suit in the near future.
Martin Beck, UK economist at Capital Economics said he expected another £50bn of asset purchases to be announced at November’s meeting and for QE to ultimately reach £500bn.
"We also think there continues to be a decent chance of an interest rate cut in November," he said.
Policy makers also discussed the recently launched Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS), which, while still in its early stages, had the potential to reduce funding costs and to encourage the supply of credit, they said.
However, they also noted that heightened uncertainty, stemming especially from the euro area, and risk aversion on the part of households and businesses might limit the demand for credit, making the impact of the FLS difficult to predict.
LONDON (SHARECAST) - Bank of England policy makers voted unanimously in September to keep interest rates on hold and its asset purchase scheme at its current level.
