BOE to leave rate unchanged

During its monthly policy meeting the Bank of England is expected to leave its benchmark interest rate and the amount of its asset-purchase programme unchanged, even as the economy is facing the risks of falling into another recession. A month ago, the BoE voted to maintain the stock of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves at £375 billion, while the interest rate also remained unchanged at the level of 0.5%. A continuous slump in the Eurozone, as well as lacklustre domestic demand is adding to concerns that the U.K. economy will fall into its third recession in five years. The nation's gross domestic product is expected to shrink by 0.1% in the first three months of 2013. 

"A dire set of U.K. data," said Ross Walker, an economist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London. It leaves a "decline in first-quarter gross domestic product looking more likely than not. Sustainable recovery and macroeconomic rebalancing feel as distant as ever."

"It is quite early in the flow of first-quarter data, but the data so far suggest that first-quarter growth may well be negative, or at best flat," said Michael Saunders, an economist at Citigroup Inc. in London.