The Bank of England left interest rates at a record low of 0.5 percent prior to Easter and said it would take two more months to complete its 75 billion This was the first month that the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee had left interest rates on hold since last September, having since then cut them by a total of 4.5 percentage points to tackle Britain's first recession since the early 1990s. It signalled last month that borrowing costs would not go any lower but it would now resort to pumping money directly into the economy, so-called quantitative easing, to boost demand, something also being done in the United States and Japan. The Bank of England said it had voted to continue with the initial 75 billion pound quantitative easing programme to buy government and corporate debt, and would review the decision each month. Last weeks RICS House Price Survey for England and Wales showed prices continued to fall last month, but the pace of decline was the slowest in a year and sales volumes picked up from record low levels. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' seasonally adjusted house price balance rose to -73.1 in March from -78.1 in February. The house price balance represents the difference between the percentage of surveyors reporting rising and falling house prices. Optimism the pace of house price falls could be slowing was also dented by government data showing property prices fell an annual 12.3 percent in February after an 11.5 percent fall in January. Figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government showed the three-month on three-month rate of decline also increased to 4.8 percent from 4.3 percent. Figures from mortgage lenders suggest house prices have shed a fifth from their peak levels in 2007, plunging millions of Britons into negative equity. Nevertheless, mortgage approvals have picked up from record lows hit at the end of last year. The survey showed newly agreed sales, measured on a net balance basis, rose over the month as did the average sales per surveyor series, for the first time since the tail end of 2007. New buyer enquiries have risen for five consecutive months, and are now growing at their fastest pace since September 2003, while the number of homes being offered to the market is falling, making surveyors' less gloomy about the next three months' price outlook.