Bank of England keeps rates steady, promises more asset purchases if needed

The Bank of England kept its key interest rate at a record-low level of 0.1% on Thursday and said it was ready to expand its asset purchases further if needed to support the economy or guard against an unwarranted tightening of financial conditions.

The BoE said it was maintaining the total size of its bond-buying programme - comprising mostly British government debt and some corporate bonds - at 645 billion pounds ($774 billion).

The central bank made two emergency cuts to its key interest rate earlier this month and boosted its bond-buying programme in a bid to offset some of the hit to the economy from the spread of the coronavirus and the government's response to it. ($1 = 0.8338 pounds)

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