The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee split three ways in October, with one member calling for a resumption of stimulus, another repeating his call for a rate hike and the remaining seven voting for no change.
Minutes from the October 6th-7th meeting published today are likely to boost expectations that the central bank is moving towards further quantitative easing, especially after gloomy comments from BoE Governor Mervyn King late yesterday.
MPC member Adam Posen wanted to boost the BoE's quantitative easing programme by £50 billion this month, the first call for further stimulus to the central bank's 200 billion pound asset purchase programme since November 2009.
Andrew Sentance voted for the fifth month in a row for a 0.25 percentage point hike in interest rates from the current record low of 0.5 per cent.
While most MPC members thought the balance of risks had not changed enough to warrant action, some felt the chances that more stimulus would be needed had increased in recent months.
"But for them, the evidence was not sufficiently compelling to imply that such a course of action was necessary at present," the minutes said.
Policymakers, whose views on the risks facing the economy were mixed, said analysis for the November Inflation Report will be crucial to get a better steer on the outlook for inflation and the economy.
Most analysts still believe the BoE will keep policy unchanged until next year, but there is a growing minority who think further easing could come as early as next month, given a deteriorating global economy and sharp fiscal tightening in Britain.
Reuters