Central Bank News The U.K. central bank once again left its main interest rates and target for asset purchases unchanged, but raised its forecast for economic growth and inflation in the current quarter and expects inflation to exceed 3.0 percent temporarily before dropping back toward its target. The Bank of England's (BOE) nine-member monetary policy committee voted unanimously to maintain its bank rate at a rock-bottom 0.10 percent but for the second time Chief Economist Andy Haldane, who leaves at the end of this month, voted to trim the asset purchase program by by 50 billion sterling from the 895 billion target for total asset purchases.