UK Slashes Interest Rates to All-Time Low of 1.5%

50-point cut less than business groups had hoped for
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 8, 2009 7:10 AM CST
UK Slashes Interest Rates to All-Time Low of 1.5%
Mervyn King, the governor of the Bank of England. The Bank cut interest rates by 50 points to 1.5%, the lowest in history.   (AP Photo)

The venerable Bank of England cut interest rates today by 50 basis points, trimming them to 1.5%—their lowest since the bank's founding in the 17th century. Investors had expected the move, although business organizations had pressed for a 100-point cut. Yesterday, Britain's finance minister admitted that the recession was "far from through"—and that earlier predictions of a 1.25% GDP contraction this year were too optimistic.
(More interest rate cut stories.)

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