Business leaders call for £50bn QE2 to boost economy

Business leaders are urging the Bank of England (BoE) to pump in a further £50bn to its quantitative easing programme, ahead of the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) decision on interest rates.

The Institute of Directors has called on the BoE to extend its current £200bn  quantitative easing program to avert the economy from slipping into recession, according to The Guardian. Graeme Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said there will be dire consequences for the government's finances in lost taxes and higher social security spending if new money is not pumped into the economy. "The time to launch QE2 has arrived. The downside economic risks are sufficiently great to warrant an extension in quantitative easing now, in order to avoid the risk of a double-dip ...