BoE keeps benchmark interest rate at 0.5 percent

The Bank of England (BoE), Britain's central bank, held the benchmark interest rate at the record low of 0.5 percent, BoE announced on Thursday.

At BoE' s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting ending on Wednesday, all nine members of the MPC voted to freeze the rates.

The Committee also voted unanimously to keep the stock of purchased assets financed by the issuance of central bank reserves unchanged at 375 billion pounds (about 533 billion U.S. dollars).

The Bank warned uncertainty over the EU referendum could cause "some softening" in growth in the first half of 2016.

The MPC sets monetary policy in order to meet the 2 percent inflation target and in a way that helps to sustain growth and employment.

According to the British Office for National Statistics (ONS), twelve-month CPI inflation increased to 0.5 percent in March but remains well below the 2 percent inflation target.