London

BANK of England (BOE) officials said that the near-term outlook for both UK economic growth and inflation has weakened and that recent market volatility highlights the downside risks to the world economy.

After a tumultuous start to 2016 in global markets and a continued drop in oil prices, eight of the nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said that keeping the key interest rate at a record-low 0.5 per cent for now would "best balance the risks" to the economy and inflation. Ian McCafferty kept up his dissent, voting for a 25 basis-point increase.