Bank of England holds interest rates at record low

LONDON: The Bank of England on Monday held its key lending rate at a record low 0.50 percent, in line with market expectations, amid domestic political uncertainty and eurozone financial troubles.

"The BoE's monetary policy committee today voted to maintain the official bank rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.50 percent," the central bank said in a brief statement.

Economists had expected the BoE to adopt a "wait and see" approach due to rapidly-moving events at home and abroad, and as it seeks to cement Britain's fragile economic recovery.

This month's interest rate call was delayed by last week's general election, which has left Britain with a hung parliament and no outright winner.

The BoE added Monday that it had decided not to alter its so-called quantitative easing policy, under which it had pumped 200 billion pounds (230 billion euros, 300 billion dollars) of new money into the economy.

As is customary when no change is made, the BoE gave no indication of the reasoning behind the decisions. Market watchers will have to wait until May 19 for the publication of minutes from the meeting, which began on Friday.