The Bank of England kept its powder dry on Thursday, voting as expected not to buy more government bonds despite the economy teetering on the verge of another contraction. After a two-day meeting, the BoE's nine-member Monetary Policy Committee said its main interest rate would stay at 0.5 percent and that it would not extend its gilt purchases beyond the 375 billion pounds' worth ($600 billion) bought so far. None of the 64 economists polled by Reuters had expected a change in interest rates or in the BoE's total target for quantitative easing. Worries about Britain's stubborn inflation are likely to have dissuaded ... (full story)