The Bank of England and the European Central Bank both left interest rates unchanged today, but the British central bank also boosted the size of its asset purchase program.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. And, the Governing Council of the ECB left the rates on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility unchanged at 1.00%, 1.75% and 0.25% respectively.

However, the BoE’s MPC also voted to increase, by £25 billion to £200 billion, its program of asset purchases financed by the issuance of central bank reserves.

It noted that the central bank’s asset purchases have helped to boost asset prices and improve access to capital markets, but it said that the need for banks to continue the process of balance sheet repair is likely to limit the availability of credit, and high levels of debt will weigh on spending.

“The world economy has shown signs of recovery, with a number of emerging market economies experiencing a strong rebound in growth, although global activity as a whole remains significantly depressed,” it noted. “Asset prices have risen internationally since the spring, reflecting both the gradual improvement in the economic climate and accommodative monetary policies. And banks’ funding conditions have improved, though financial conditions remain fragile.”

“On balance, the committee believes that the prospect is for a slow recovery in the level of economic activity, so that a substantial margin of under-utilised resources persists. That will continue to bear down on inflation for some time to come, offset in the short run by the impact of the past depreciation of sterling,” it said.