10 Feb 2012

Further QE injection by Bank of England

6:11 am on 10 February 2012

The Bank of England is to inject another £50 billion into the British economy.

When completed, it will bring the total amount of quantitative easing stimulus to £325 billion.

The BBC reports the Bank started the QE programme, through which it buys government bonds, in 2009.

The Bank's monetary policy committee also said on Thursday it would keep interest rates at their record low of 0.5%.

Interest rates in Britain have been held at that level since March 2009.

In a statement, the Bank said the underlying pace of recovery slowed during 2011, with activity falling slightly during the final quarter.

Economic data also released on Thursday showed import prices fell by 1.3% between November and December.

Other figures showed that industrial production, which accounts for about 15% of the economy, grew by 0.5% on the month.