The bank's rate-setting panel had earlier unanimously decided to cut the main interest rate to a record low of 0.75 percent in an effort to stimulate growth. Under the so-called quantitative easing program, the Bank purchases government bonds from banks, in the hope that they will use the money to lend to businesses and consumers. A warning from Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, that risks remained to the economy of the 17 countries that use the euro didn't help matters. It said Thursday in London that it would add government securities worth £50 billion ($78 billion) to its existing portfolio of £325 billion ($508 billion) in its latest effort to jolt the struggling British economy out of a double-dip recession. The People's Bank of China cut its main lending rate by 0.31 percentage points to 6 percent and reduced its deposit rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 3 percent.
– The European Central Bank today cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point to .75%, its lowest level yet, in a move the New York Times describes as the ECB's "most aggressive" since the eurozone crisis hit. Though the move was widely expected, it does bring the benchmark rate to what was once considered the lower bound on the official rate. The action will make it cheaper for businesses and consumers to take loans. In a second, more surprising, move, the ECB also cut by a quarter-point the interest rate it pays banks on overnight deposits, bringing that to zero and giving banks reason to lend the money, rather than sock it away with the ECB. The Times notes that the moves leave the ECB with few crisis-combating tools left. The next step would probably involve a massive bond-buying spree, which could anger Germany because it doesn't want to get stuck bearing the brunt of any losses the ECB could suffer on its bond holdings. Today's other major rate news comes from China: The AP reports the People's Bank of China cut its main lending rate by 0.31 points to 6% and reduced its deposit rate by a quarter-point to 3%, moves analysts believe hint at deepening economic concern.