Bank of England holds interest rates but says it is ready for further stimulus

indah.link

The Bank of England on Thursday held interest rates at 0.1% but said it stands ready to take further action should the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic continue to deteriorate.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the central bank has cut rates twice from 0.75% to 0.1% and announced £200 billion ($247.55 billion) of new quantitative easing, bringing its bond buying program to a total of £645 billion.

Last month's PMI (purchasing managers' index) readings plunged to record lows and the U.K. is expected to suffer its deepest economic downturn in living memory as a result of the coronavirus crisis.

The British government will announce the outcome of its second review of lockdown measures on Thursday, after the U.K. surpassed Italy to record the highest fatality rate in Europe.

As of Thursday morning, the U.K. has recorded more than 202,000 cases of the coronavirus and more than 30,000 deaths.

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