LONDON
The Bank of England held its key interest rate at 0.5 percent Thursday, according to a statement on its website.
The central bank also maintained the size of its stimulus program -- quantitative easing, comprising securities purchases to inject liquidity into the economy -- at £375 billion ($572 billion).
The British central bank has kept the rate at this level since March 2009, the statement said. A program of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves was also initiated on March 5, 2009. The previous change in the size of that program was an increase of £50 billion to a total of £375 billion on July 5, 2012, the statement added.
The move met analyst expectations as most had forecast no action on the central bank rates.
"Growth continues steady in the U.K., although it may slow with the upcoming election," Chris Williamson, an economist with researcher Markit in London, said in a note published on March 1. "But inflation is also very low, and that probably determined the bank's decision to hold rates," Williamson added.
Growth remained strong in the U.K. this year, as it is the fastest growing economy in Europe. But inflation remained low at 0.3 percent, and analysts said this was the reason for the hold on rates by the central bank.
Annualized Gross Domestic Product growth was at three percent in third quarter of the year, and output was up 0.7 percent year-on-year in that period.
Job creation is also strong; the U.K. economy creates 70,000 jobs each month, according to statistics from Markit.
The Turkish lira held steady at about 2.593 to the U.S. dollar after the announcement.
