London, Sep 28 (TIWN) The Bank of England (BoE) said that it "will not hesitate to change interest rates as necessary" after the British pound plunged to its lowest level against the US dollar since decimalisation in 1971.

Finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng sent sterling and government bonds into freefall on Friday with a so-called mini-budget that was designed to grow the economy by funding tax cuts with huge increases in government borrowing.
Such was the market turmoil on Monday there was growing speculation in financial markets that the BoE would make an emergency interest rate rise after it hiked rates only last week - to 2.25% from 1.75%.
Instead, with the pound fragile and bond prices still tumbling, Kwarteng issued a statement just before the British stock market closed to say he would set out medium-term debt-cutting plans on Nov. 23, alongside forecasts from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility of the full scale of government borrowing.
The central bank welcomed "the commitment to sustainable economic growth" from Kwarteng and the independent scrutiny that the OBR growth and borrowing forecasts would bring.
"The Bank is monitoring developments in financial markets very closely in light of the significant repricing of financial assets," Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said.
"The MPC will not hesitate to change interest rates by as much as needed to return inflation to the 2% target sustainably in the medium term, in line with its remit." Analysts and investors said the government had done the bare minimum to reassure markets.