Investing.com - The Bank of England kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged and announced no change to its asset purchase facility program, it said on Thursday.
The BOE said it was holding the benchmark interest rate at 0.25%, in a widely expected move. The central bank also said it was to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £435 billion.
Minutes from the central bank's policy meeting showed that eight members were in favor of leaving the key interest rate at a record low of 0.5%.
Dissenting member Kristin Forbes voted for a 0.25% hike in the benchmark rate to 0.50%.
Market analysts expected the central bank to vote 9-0 to keep policy steady.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.2320 from around 1.2260 ahead of the announcement, while EUR/GBP was at 0.8705 from 0.8746 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were broadly higher. London’s FTSE 100 rose 1%, the EURO STOXX 50 advanced 0.9%, France's CAC 40 tacked on 0.6%, while Germany's DAX inched up 0.8%.