The Bank of England warned Thursday that the outlook for economic recovery remained uncertain  so much so that the British central bank largely expanded its attempts at easing the credit squeeze by printing more money.

In spite of some encouraging signs of improvement in the European economy and financial markets, the two central banks kept their benchmark interest rates unchanged at record lows. The Bank of England’s rate remained at 0.5 /cent and the European Central Bank’s main rate stayed at 1 /cent, as expected.

Low interest rates and other measures have helped to firm  the economy, but policy makers remained doubtful that a swift recovery would be forthcoming.

“In the United Kingdom, the recession appears to have been deeper than previously thought,” the Bank of England said.

The Bank of England received permission from the government to inject an additional £50 billion, or $85 billion, into the economy through its asset purchase program to improve the availability of credit. It will buy mainly government bonds but also some corporate debt with the newly created money. The purchases would be made over the next three months and come on top of the £125 billion already spent since March.

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