Britain, still stumbling, expands its stimulus package

Faced with the news that Britain is still in the midst of a recession, the government announced a new round of stimulus today. The Bank of England will add another 25 billion pounds ($41 billion) to the economy and keep its main interest rate at 0.5 percent for an eighth consecutive month.

This additional stimulus will be through the central bank's purchase of government securities with freshly printed money. While other countries are beginning to slow their emergency stimulus programs, the U.K. isn't ready to do so. For example, the U.S. Federal Reserve has completed its program of buying $300 billion of government bonds, but it's still buying mortgage-related debt. The European Central Bank left interest rates at 1%, a record low, while economists wait for clues indicating when the ECB can start exiting its stimulus programs.