LONDON, July 18 (UPI) -- The Bank of England noted Wednesday that economic growth as of early July had weakened but inflation pressure eased.
With the release of the bank's policy meeting minutes from an early July, two-day policy session, the banks said, the near-term outlook for GDP growth "had weakened. It now seemed possible that output would be roughly flat over 2012 as a whole, implying a period of two years where there had been little or no economic growth."
The minutes noted weaker global demand "largely due to the impact of the euro-area financial crisis" although equity prices had risen slightly in the month before the meeting.
"Information during the month suggested that export prospects had weakened, which would further impede the UK economy's rebalancing away from domestic demand towards net exports," the meeting minutes said.
Easing pressure on consumers slightly, the bank said the 12-month inflation rate had dropped to 2.8 percent in May from 3 percent in April with a drop in fuel prices the largest contributor to the decline.
Policymakers in July announced the central bank's lending rate would remain at 0.5 percent. An asset purchasing program, meant to keep liquidity in the market place, was increased by $80 billion to a total of $585 billion.
