Bank of England Governor Mervyn King wanted to pump even more money
into the economy ahead of this month's shock decision to boost money
supply by £50 billion, it was revealed today.
The Governor was one of three policymakers who were keen to increase
the Bank's so-called Quantitative Easing (QE) programme by £75
billion - to £200 billion, according to minutes of the monthly
meeting.
The decision to instead increase QE by £50 billion was passed
after six members voted in favour, but Mr King and the dissenters
argued that there was less harm in boosting money supply by too much
than there would be by too little.
Today's minutes also revealed the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee
was unanimous in voting to keep interest rates at their historic low
of 0.5%.
Mr King and the two MPC colleagues who preferred a £75 billion
expansion - David Miles and Tim Besley - said they believed there
were fewer risks in such a move.
