London  - The Bank of England (BoE) Thursday left interest rates unchanged at 0.5 per cent but said it would increase its programme of quantitative easing (QE) to
125 billion pounds (188.5 billion dollars).

The QE scheme, under which the central bank aims to boost liquidity by buying up bank and corporate assets - in effect printing money - was adopted earlier this year with an initial 75 billion pounds.

Analysts in London said they expected the European Central Bank (ECB) to follow the British example of taking "unconventional measures" to stimulate the economy. (dpa)