Bank of England cuts rates to 0.25%

The Bank of England cut interest rates on Wednesday to bolster Britain's economy against disruption caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Members of the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee voted to cut Bank Rate for the first time since August 2016, to 0.25 percent from 0.75 percent, the central bank said in a statement.

The BoE maintained its target for government bond purchases to 435 billion pounds. It also maintained its corporate bond purchase target to 10 billion pounds. The BoE also introduced a new term funding scheme for small businesses. It will offer four-year funding over the next 12 months.