Bank of England holds benchmark rate at 5.25 pct

LONDON, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of England (BoE), the United Kingdom's (UK) central bank, announced on Thursday that it will maintain its benchmark interest rate at 5.25 percent for the sixth consecutive time.

At its meeting ending on Wednesday, the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 7-2 to maintain the rate. Two members advocated for a reduction of 0.25 percentage points to bring the rate down to 5 percent.