Pound remains weak after MPC minutes revealed QE split

The pound has remained depressed in foreign currency exchange
trading this morning (February 21st) after the minutes of the
latest Bank of England (BoE) policymakers’ conference revealed a
clear divide over the matter of upping stimulus measures.

Of the nine Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members, six voted
against increasing quantitative easing (QE), while three elected in
favour of raising the current bond-buying programme – including the
BoE governor Sir Mervyn King.

This has spooked the markets into believing there may be a good
chance more QE will be implemented in the coming months, sending the pound lower.

The last time the MPC voted to raise asset purchases was in July
of last year, when the total was increased to £375 billion.

In addition to Sir Mervyn, committee members Paul Fisher and David
Miles are in favour of upping QE to £400 billion.

At 08:50 GMT, sterling was down versus most of its trading
partners, sliding by 0.2 per cent against the dollar to 1.520
USD.