The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) released its February meeting minutes on Thursday. All members voted to keep the central bank's monetary policy unchanged. Ian McCafferty, who voted to hike interest rate by 0.25% since August 2015, changed his mind.
The consumer price inflation in the U.K. was 0.2% in December, below the central bank's 2% target. The BoE noted that inflation is expected to rise modestly in the coming months.
The BoE noted that the domestic private sector remained resilient, while consumer confidence was robust.
The central bank said that there are downside risks to the global growth and to the central bank's forecasts from the slowdown in emerging economies.
All MPC members agreed to hike interest rate gradually once the BoE starts raising its interest rate and "to a lower level than in recent cycles".