Bank of England quantitative easing policy move eyed

The Bank of England will announce its latest monetary policy decision at midday, with economists waiting to see if the central bank introduces more quantitative easing (QE).The Bank has already pumped £200bn into the economy by buying assets such as government bonds, in an attempt to boost lending by commercial banks.There has been much speculation that it will announce a further £50bn of QE.The Bank is also expected to hold interest rates at 0.5%.The central bank initially announced it was pumping £75bn into the economy in March 2009, but expanded the programme to £200bn later that year.It has made no further announcements on QE since then, but given the fragility of the UK's economic recovery, there have been recent calls for the Bank to step in once again.On Wednesday, data showed the UK economy grew by 0.1% between April and June, which was less than previously thought.The BBC's economics editor, Stephanie Flanders, says the only question is whether the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) votes to push the button now or in November.The argument for an immediate injection is that some would say the threats hanging over the recovery are so serious that there is no time to waste.The argument for waiting is that, by next month, the MPC will have a new set of economic forecasts to guide their decision - and perhaps a better sense of where the crisis in the eurozone is heading, she says.