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Empresas y finanzas

Bank of England holds rates steady as expected


    LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England kept interest rates at a record low of 0.5 percent on Thursday, judging that Britain's economic recovery remains too weak to sustain an inflationary spiral.

    Inflation has already surged to 4 percent, twice the central bank's target, but the economy faces headwinds from public spending cuts and suffered a surprise contraction at the end of last year.

    Some BoE policymakers have indicated that they want to see how Britain's economy performs in the first quarter before changing policy.

    All but one of the 63 economists polled by Reuters had predicted a steady verdict. However, most expect the central bank to raise rates before the end of the year and investors are betting on a rise in May.

    The European Central Bank, dealing with a much smaller inflation problem, has already signaled that an interest rate rise is imminent.

    UK interest rates have stood at 0.5 percent since March 2009 when the BoE slashed rates to an all-time low and embarked on an unprecedented program of quantitative easing.

    (Reporting by Christina Fincher)