London  - The Bank of England Thursday left the key interest rate
unchanged at 0.5 per cent, already at its lowest level in history.

Interest rates have been cut steadily over the past six months.

The bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) took the decision at its
regular monthly meeting which also reviewed the process of so-called
quantitative easing launched last month.

Under the scheme, the central bank injected an initial 75 billion
pounds (108 billion dollars) in "newly-created money" into the economy.

The MPC announced no changes to the scale of the operation
Thursday, but has permission from the government to double the amount
it spends on buying up government and corporate debt under the
three-month programme. (dpa)