UK interest rates lowered to 0.5%
The Bank of England has cut interest rates to 0.5% – a fresh all-time low – and says it will now boost the money supply to help revive the economy.
Interest rates have now been reduced six times since October, and the latest half a percentage point cut from January’s 1% had been expected.
The Bank said it would expand the amount of money in the system by £75bn in an attempt to boost bank lending.
This policy, so far untried in the UK, is called quantitative easing.
