BANK OF ENGLAND PLUNKS IN £100-B TO GIN UP ECONOMY

The Bank of England is throwing more money at the British economy as the country tries to stave off its worst downturn in more than 300 years, saying on Thursday that it would increase its bond-buying program by another £100 billion ($125 billion), bringing the total up to £745 billion ($929 billion). The Bank of England said it will reach that target by the end of the year.

The move, wrote Julia Horowitz for CNN Business late on Thursday, June 18, 2020, adds to the trillions of dollars in stimulus already pledged by central banks around the world as policymakers take unprecedented steps to tackle the global recession, falling inflation and extreme unemployment stemming from the pandemic.

The Bank of England's purchases of government bonds are helping the UK government to finance recovery efforts as it borrows record amounts. The country is in particularly rough shape. It has one of the highest coronavirus death tolls in the world and an economy that is only very gradually emerging from lockdown. UK GDP contracted by more than 20% in April, a record, following a 6% decline in March.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned last week that the United Kingdom would suffer the worst downturn of any major economy this year.