Bank of England leaves asset-buying, rates unchanged

The Bank of England left its asset purchase programme intact at 200 billion pounds ($325 billion) and held interest rates at 0.5 percent on Thursday, as widely expected.

Policymakers have indicated they are likely to stay on hold until at least February when they will get their new growth and inflation forecasts and the scheduled asset purchases run out.

The BoE launched its quantitative easing progressing -- mainly asset-buying of government bonds -- in March in an unprecedented attempt to boost an economy ravaged by a global credit crunch.

The economy is now showing signs of picking up again, house prices are rising and forward-looking surveys point to an ongoing recovery in activity, suggesting Britain will pull out of recession by the end of the year.

Most analysts, therefore, expect no further expansion of the QE programme -- which was expanded by 25 billion pounds last month -- and say it could be a while before policymakers feel confident enough about growth to start raising interest rates.

(Editing by Mike Peacock)