英国央行维持低利率和量化宽松规模不变

新华08网伦敦2月7日电(记者张越男)英国央行——英格兰银行7日决定将基准利率维持在0.5%的历史低点，并保持量化宽松规模不变｡

由于经济复苏乏力，英国央行已连续三年多维持该低利率｡2012年，英国央行共两次扩大量化宽松规模，通过购买资产(主要是政府债券)向经济注入更多流动性，以刺激经济增长｡目前量化宽松总量为3750亿英镑(约合6000亿美元)｡

英国国家统计局数据显示，去年第四季度，英国国内生产总值环比收缩0.3%｡而经济合作与发展组织6日发布报告称，如果英国经济持续低迷，英国央行应考虑进一步扩大量化宽松规模｡

英国央行主要职责之一是将通货膨胀水平控制在既定目标2%以内｡自2009年末以来，英国通胀率一直高于2%｡(完) 

以下为英国央行2013年2月7日货币政策声明全文

Bank of England maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and the size of the Asset Purchase Programme at £375 billion

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%.  The Committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £375 billion.

Over the past year, there has been considerable volatility in quarterly output growth.   Looking through the influence of temporary factors, overall output appears to have been broadly flat. In large part that reflects sharp falls in particular sectors of the economy that are unlikely to be repeated in 2013. In contrast, the combined output of the manufacturing and services sectors has grown modestly. Business surveys suggest the pace of expansion is likely to remain muted in the near term. The weakness in overall output sits in sharp contrast to continued strong employment growth, suggesting that the financial crisis may have had some impact on the effective supply capacity of the economy.

The MPC continues to judge that the UK economy is set for a slow but sustained recovery in both demand and effective supply, aided by a further easing in credit conditions – supported by the Bank’s programme of asset purchases and the Funding for Lending Scheme – and some improvement in the global environment.  But the risks are weighted to the downside, not least because of the challenges facing the euro area.    Inflation has remained stubbornly above the 2% target. Despite subdued pay growth, weak productivity has meant no corresponding fall in domestic cost pressures.  And increases in university tuition fees and domestic energy bills, largely resulting from administrative decisions rather than market forces, have added to inflation more recently.  CPI inflation is likely to rise further in the near term and may remain above the 2% target for the next two years, in part reflecting a persistent inflationary impact both from administered and regulated prices and the recent decline in sterling. But inflation is expected to fall back to around the target thereafter, as a gradual revival in productivity growth dampens increases in domestic costs and external price pressures fade.   The Committee discussed the appropriate policy response to the combination of the weakness in the economy and the prospect of a further prolonged period of above-target inflation.  It agreed that, as long as domestic cost and price pressures remained consistent with inflation returning to the target in the medium term, it was appropriate to look through the temporary, albeit protracted, period of above-target inflation.  Attempting to bring inflation back to target sooner by removing the current policy stimulus more quickly than currently anticipated by financial markets would risk derailing the recovery and undershooting the inflation target in the medium term.  The MPC’s remit is to deliver price stability, but to do so in a way that avoids undesirable volatility in output.  The Committee judged that its policy stance was fully consistent with that remit.  The Committee agreed that it stood ready to provide additional monetary stimulus if warranted by the outlook for growth and inflation.   Against that backdrop, the Committee decided that it was appropriate to maintain Bank Rate at 0.5% and the size of the asset purchase programme at £375 billion in order to meet the 2% CPI inflation target over the medium term.

The Committee also noted that the Asset Purchase Facility’s holdings of the March 2013 gilt would mature at the time of the Committee’s next meeting.  The Committee voted that it would re‑invest the cash flows of £6.6 billion associated with this redemption.   The Committee’s latest inflation and output projections will appear in the Inflation Report to be published at 10.30am on Wednesday 13 February.   The minutes of the meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 20 February.