Bank of England cuts interest rates to near zero, ramps up bond-buying

BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said the buying would be front-loaded as the central bank sought to address financial markets that were "bordering on disorderly" in recent days.

The Bank of England cut interest rates to 0.1% on Thursday, its second emergency rate cut in just over a week, and promised 200 billion pounds of front-loaded bond purchases in a fresh attempt to shield Britain's economy from the coronavirus outbreak.

As central banks scramble to fight off the threat of a global recession, all nine BoE interest-rate setters voted unanimously for the cut to the benchmark Bank Rate, which they slashed to 0.25% from 0.75% as recently as March 11.

They also voted unanimously to restart buying government bonds and corporate debt for the first time since 2016, a day