Investing.com - The pound was steady near five-and-a-half year lows against the dollar on Thursday after the minutes of the Bank of England’s latest policy meeting were less dovish than expected.
GBP/USD was last at 1.4412, little changed for the day and not far from Tuesday’s lows of 1.4351, the weakest level since June 2010.
The BoE said its latest inflation forecasts now look too optimistic, due in large part to steep falls in oil prices.
According to the minutes, the majority of policymakers said the expected pickup in inflation would be “be slightly more gradual in the near term than forecast in the Committee’s November Inflation Report projections.”
Recent volatility in financial markets also underlined the downside risks to global growth, the minutes said.
The bank also noted that pay growth remained restrained, after official figures showed that wage growth slowed to 2% last month.
The U.K. government’s plan to hold a referendum on European Union membership may be responsible for weakness in the pound so far this year, the minutes said.
The BoE left interest rates on hold at 0.5% on Thursday, where they have been since March 2009. The monetary policy committee was split eight-to-one, with Ian McCafferty voting in favor of a rate hike.
Sterling eased against the euro, with EUR/GBP last at 0.7564, off an earlier one-year high of 0.7607.
The euro found support earlier, following Reuters reports that European Central Bank policymakers are wary of implementing further easing measures in the near term.
The ECB was to publish the minutes of its December meeting later in the day.