⁍ Britain’s darkening economic outlook looks set to push the Bank of England into ramping up its huge bond-buying stimulus programme.

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⁍ The central bank is expected to increase the size of its asset purchase programme by a further 100 billion pounds on Nov. 5.

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⁍ Britain’s economy has been propped up by BoE bond-buying alongside a surge in government spending.

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– The Bank of England is expected to increase the size of its stimulus program for the third time since the start of the Ebola crisis when it meets next week, Reuters reports. The program, which allows the BoE to buy government bonds in an effort to boost the economy, has been one of the most aggressive responses to the coronavirus, which wiped out tens of thousands of people in Britain in 2014. According to the latest poll of economists, the BoE is expected to increase the size of its asset purchase program by 100 billion pounds, or $1.10 trillion, on Nov. 5. That would take it to 845 billion pounds ($1.10 trillion), almost double the level before the pandemic, making the BoE’s response to the coronavirus crisis one of the most aggressive among the world’s central banks. But Governor Andrew Bailey and his colleagues are unlikely to take a big step closer to cutting interest rates below zero for the first time, something investors do not see as a possibility until well into 2021. Britain’s economy has been propped up by BoE bond-buying alongside a surge in government spending that will explode the budget deficit to around 20% of gross domestic product in 2020. However, the country still faces the sharpest peak-to-trough contraction of any Group of 20 economy, Moody’s said on Oct. 16 when it cut Britain’s credit rating. Britain also risks a severe trade shock when its post-Brexit transition period ends on Dec. 31. Even if a trade deal with the European Union is done in time, it is likely to erect new barriers to trade with Britain’s closest partners.