The Bank of England made a shock 1.5 percentage point cut in interest rates on Thursday to just 3 percent, their lowest level in more than half a century, as it seeks to prevent the country from sliding into a deep recession.

All nine Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee members voted for this month's globally co-ordinated 50 basis point emergency cut in interest rates, minutes of their October 8 meeting showed on Wednesday.

The government will not put pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates but is prepared to take big steps with economic policy to stem the credit crisis, Chancellor Alistair Darling said on Sunday.

The Bank of England held interest rates at 5.0 percent on Thursday for the fourth straight month, and borrowing costs are expected to remain on hold for a while as policymakers balance slowing growth and rising inflation.

The Bank of England held interest rates at 5.0 percent on Thursday, but most experts predict a cut next month to shore up the economy in the face of a global credit crunch.

A majority of economists expect the Bank of England to cut interest rates on Thursday after a raft of weak economic signals tipped the balance in favour of lower borrowing costs.

The Bank of England cut interest rates for the third time in five months on Thursday to cushion the economy from the global credit squeeze, despite persistent worries about rising inflation.

Two Bank of England policymakers opposed this month's decision to keep interest rates at 5.25 percent, minutes showed on Wednesday, leading markets to price in a greater chance of another cut as soon as next month.

The Bank of England has released the minutes of the monthly meeting of the rate setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). The minutes show that the committee voted to keep interest rates constant in January by 8 to 1.

Two of the Bank of England's nine strong Monetary Policy Committee unexpectedly opposed this month's decision to raise interest rates by a quarter point to 5.0 percent.

Norway's annual inflation rate increased to 2.7 percent in October, driven by rising energy costs.

The Bank of England raised interest rates on Thursday by a quarter point to 5.0 percent, their highest level in 5 years, in order to restrain building inflationary pressures.

The two newest members of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee opposed this month's decision to keep interest rates pegged at 4.75 percent, preferring an immediate quarter point increase.

British consumer prices rose 2.4 percent in September compared with a year earlier, the government reported Tuesday, down slightly from the previous month but still stubbornly above the official inflation target.

Inflation in the 12 nation euro zone sank to 1.7 percent in September from 2.3 percent a month earlier and from 2.6 percent a year earlier, the EU's statistics office announced Tuesday.

The European Central Bank is set to lift its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point at a meeting in Paris, economists say, despite lower euro zone inflation and protests by workers' representatives looking for a pay rise.

The Bank of England kept interest rates steady at 4.75 percent for the second month running on Thursday, but most economists predict a hike next month.

Hardly anyone expects the Bank of England to raise interest rates this week but markets are still on heightened alert after the central bank caught them on the hop with a quarter point hike in August.

The EU's seasonally adjusted jobless rate held steady at 8 percent in August, while in the 12 nation euro zone unemployment edged up to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent in July, the statistics agency Eurostat reported Tuesday.