BoE Shockingly Cuts Interest Rates by 50bps to Buoy Economy against Virus Outbreak!

The Bank of England (BoE) announced on Wednesday to cut interest rates by an unexpectedly 0.50 percentage point to buoy its economy against economic meltdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

 

Members of the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee voted to cut interest rates for the first time since 2016 from 0.75% to 0.25%.

“Although the magnitude of the economic shock from Covid-19 is highly uncertain, activity is likely to weaken materially in the United Kingdom over the coming months,” said BoE in a statement.

BoE also announced a new term funding scheme to support SME companies and new steps to help commercial banks lend more.