LONDON, April 5 (UPI) -- The Bank of England left its monetary policies intact Thursday, while the country's economy flirts with a double-dip recession.
The bank, which explains its decisions weeks after its governing policy group meets, said the rate paid on commercial bank reserves would be kept at 0.5 percent. It would also continue with its $437 billion asset purchasing program.
Few expected a policy change. The Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development signaled last week that the British economy may have slipped back into a recession.
The OECD, which monitors economic activity among 30 developed nations, said the British gross domestic product fell 0.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011 to the first quarter this year.
The annual rate of decline January through March was minus 0.4 percent.
The BOE said Thursday that minutes to its policy meeting would be released April 18.
