Bank of England almost unanimous on rates

[August 18, 2010]  LONDON (AP) --  Minutes of the Bank of England's monthly meeting released on Wednesday show that policy makers considered both the case for expanding or withdrawing emergency stimulus -- before voting 8-1 to hold interest rates at a record low of 0.5 percent.

The one dissenting member of the monetary policy committee had voted in favor of a quarter-point increase in the rate, citing concerns about inflationary and improvements in the economy.

The report on the August meeting comes a day after official statistics revealed inflation had edged down to 3.1 percent in the three months to July, from 3.2 percent in the three months to June.

But that is still well above the government's 2 percent target, forcing bank Governor Mervyn King to write an open letter of explanation.

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.