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Bank of England cuts main interest rate from 0.75% to 0.25%

11 March 2020 11:47 (UTC +04:00)

The Bank of England announced Wednesday an emergency cut to interest rates in an attempt to limit the economic impact from the new coronavirus, APA reports citing CNBC.

The announcement follows a similar decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve last week. The virus that began in China late last year has spread worldwide and is impacting all major economies.

“At its special meeting ending on 10 March 2020, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to reduce Bank Rate by 50 basis points to 0.25%,” the Bank of England said in a statement on Wednesday.

The central bank has also announced a new term funding scheme to support small and medium-sized companies and new steps to help commercial banks lend more.

“Following the spread of Covid-19, risky asset and commodity prices have fallen sharply, and government bond yields reached all-time lows, consistent with a marked deterioration in risk appetite and in the outlooks for global and U.K. growth,” the BOE said in a statement, adding that “indicators of financial market uncertainty have reached extreme levels.”