The Bank of England held the key British interest rate at a record low level of 0.50 percent today, as it seeks to nurture fragile economic recovery.

The central bank also said in a statement that it had maintained its bond-purchasing programme that is widely known as quantitative easing.

"The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official bank rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.50 percent," the BoE said after its latest two-day monthly meeting.

"The committee also voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at 200 billion pounds (242 billion euros, 308 billion dollars)."

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