Bank of England unanimous on keeping rates down

[August 17, 2011]  LONDON (AP) -- The Bank of England's nine-member rate-setting panel voted unanimously to keep its main interest rate at the record low of 0.5 percent in August because of slowing growth and heightened tensions in financial markets.

Minutes to the Aug 4. meeting, released Wednesday, show that the two members who had previously voted to increase rates changed their minds. This was the first unanimous vote for unchanged rates since May last year.

One member, Adam Posen, continued to vote for a 50 billion pound ($80 billion) increase in the central bank's asset purchase program.

The minutes show the rate-setters fretting over global demand and the volatility in financial markets.

Overall, they thought the risks to inflation had "clearly shifted to the downside."

[Associated Press]

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