BoE looks for 'rapid recovery' for battered UK economy

Keeps interest rates and QE at current levels

The UK economy will recover "much more rapidly" from the coronavirus crisis than it did from the Global Financial Crisis, according to Bank of England (BoE) governor Andrew Bailey.

The Bank voted unanimously at its meeting on Wednesday to keep interest rates at current 0.1% levels and overwhelmingly to keep its quantitative easing programme at £200m. It noted an "unusually uncertain" outlook for both the UK and global economies amid the public health pandemic that has conspired to shut most of the world down. UK GDP would likely fall by 30%, with business investment and sales expected to halve in Q2, unemployment likely to rise sharply and household expenditure to be cut by a third. Investors plough record £2.6bn into equity funds in April Along with its m...