<p>LONDON — The Bank of England says the news on near-term economic activity in the U.K. has been “positive” as it maintained its main interest rate at the record low of 0.1%.</p>
<p>In a statement Thursday, it said that all nine members of the rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee backed the decision to keep monetary policy unchanged.</p>
<p>The decision had been widely predicted in financial markets following the sharp fall in new coronavirus infections over the past couple of months amid a lockdown and the speedy rollout of the U.K.’s vaccination program.</p>
<p>By Wednesday, more than 25 million people in the U.K. had received a first dose of vaccine, nearly half of its eligible adult population. </p>
<p>The lockdowns across the four nations of the U.K. are slowly being eased and there are widespread hopes of a big pick-up in economic activity in the spring as restrictions are lifted.</p>
