TEXT - BoE statement after rates held, QE to continue

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England released the following statement on Thursday after policymakers held rates and voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases.

"The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee today voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases totalling 125 billion financed by the issuance of central bank reserves.

The Committee expects that the announced programme will take another month to complete. The Committee will review the scale of the programme again at its August meeting, alongside its latest inflation projections.

The minutes of the meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 22 July.