£50bn cash boost as rates are held

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It is the second month in a row that rate-setters have held the cost of borrowing as attention turns to the results of its scheme of quantitative easing (QE) - effectively printing money - to ease credit conditions in the ailing economy.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said it planned an additional £50 billion for the programme, raising the total to £125 billion, from £75 billion.

The MPC has spent more than £50 billion so far on assets including Government and corporate debt.

Chancellor Alistair Darling has given the Bank permission to spend a total of £150 billion in the QE programme.

In a statement, the Bank said: "The world economy remains in deep recession. Output has continued to contract and international trade has fallen precipitously.

"The global banking and financial system remains fragile despite further significant intervention by the authorities."

The timing of the move - with one month still to go for the original £75 billion scheme - came as a surprise to many analysts, who had forecast no update on the strategy until at least next month.

The MPC predicted that it would take another three months to complete the enlarged £125 billion programme.

It added it would "keep the scale of the programme under review".