THE Bank of England has injected a further £50bn into the economy today to help fend off another recession.

The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has voted to increase the quantitative easing (QE) programme - effectively printing money - from £275bn to £325bn despite the risks it poses to the country’s inflation rate. The MPC decided to hold interest rates at a record low of 0.5% .

The QE rise will hit savers  due to the adverse effect money-printing has on annuity rates.

But business leaders said further stimulus would support confidence and welcomed the decision.