Bank of England

The Bank of England has increased its quantitative easing programme by a more than expected £75bn in a bid to kick-start the UK's ailing economy, while leaving interest rates on hold at 0.5%.

Speculation is mounting the Bank of England may be close to cutting base rates to 0.25% and pumping at least £50bn more into the economy through quantitative easing.

The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee (FPC) has urged banks to curtail bonuses in order to be prepared for further financial shocks.

F&C's Ted Scott has called on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to abandon plans for QE2 and buoy the economy using fiscal measures.

The case for further QE in the UK "significantly strengthened" in the past month, with any repeat of recent economic woes likely to lead to further stimulus, the MPC has said.

The FTSE 100 dipped in early trading after a muted session for markets overnight, as investors await news on quantitative easing in the US and the UK, and as the European Union's Greek bailout talks continued.

The Bank of England has estimated its £200bn asset purchase program has raised inflation by as much as 1.5%.

Adam Posen, the external member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), has upped his call for more quantitative easing (QE) to £100bn and proposed a ‘public bank' for businesses struggling to find credit on the highstreet.

The Bank of England has kept interest rates at their record low level of 0.5% following the latest meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

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.