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The Bank of England was split three ways over its decision to pump an extra £25 billion into the economy as it battles to drag Britain out of recession.
Seven members of the monetary policy committee approved this month's decision to raise the money printing programme from £175 billion to £200 billion, minutes from the meeting showed today.
But two members opposed the move, with David Miles wanting an extra £40 billion and chief economist Spencer Dale opting for no change at all.
All nine agreed to leave interest rates unchanged at 0.5%. The three-way split over QE exposed differing views at the Bank over how to end the longest recession on record without fuelling inflation.
Peter Westway of Nomura said: “The MPC seem to be seeing icebergs on both sides of the ship and are keeping watch accordingly.”
Economists said the Bank could extend QE further but argued that such a move looked unlikely.
Colin Ellis of Daiwa Securities said: “There is an awful lot of debate on the committee and a lot of uncertainty about what the right thing to do is. I wouldn't rule out any further purchases but I think it's pretty clear the committee would like to stop at £200 billion.”
