09 February 2012 at 13:21 GMT
The Bank of England duly decided to leave interest rates unchanged today, but did extend its Quantitative Easing programme, or the Asset Purchase Facility, as they like to call it, by £50 billion, taking it to £325 billion in total.
The only slightly notable development was that they decided to focus this round's purchases on shorter Gilt maturities - a sort of reverse Operation Twist, as this is the opposite of the Fed's strategy. The move is very probably technical, being driven by a concern that their bond purchases would otherwise become too concentrated on the longer end of the market, perhaps effecting its smooth operation.
Statement voices concern over Europe
The accompanying statement notes improvement in the UK landscape, in the shape of better Purchasing Managers'Indices, etc., but over-riding this was the committee's distinct degree of concern over Europe. With respect to inflation, if anything, they seem concerned that it will undershoot their 2 percent target in the medium term.
As the moves were widely expected, the effect on the markets has been minimal.