The Bank of England Thursday unexpectedly cut interest rates by as much as 1.5 percentage points to 3 per cent in the bank's biggest single reduction ever, the bank said.
The measure was welcome by business leaders who had been urging Britain's central bank to opt for a significant cut, but the decision taken by the bank's Monetary Policy Committee exceeded expectations, reported dpa.
It came amid reports of a further drop in house prices last month and a sharp drop in car sales in October.