Bank of England to buy more assets, keeps rate unchanged

LONDON: The Bank of England said it plans to keep buying as much as 175 billion pounds ($290 billion) in assets to cement the economy's recovery from the worst recession in a generation.

The decision by the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee, led by Governor Mervyn King, was forecast by all 35 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. The central bank also kept the benchmark interest rate at 0.5 percent, as predicted in a separate survey of 60 forecasts.

Signs that the economy is returning to growth helped push the UK's benchmark FTSE-100 index above 5,000 for the first time in almost a year on Wednesday. While King last month argued for even more bond purchases by the central bank, yesterday's decision suggests most officials are convinced the recovery is on track for now.