The Bank of England cut its benchmark interest rate to a new low on Thursday and said it would buy government and corporate bonds as part of a broad package of measures to stimulate the UK economy in the wake of the Brexit vote.

The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee cut its main interest rate to 0.25% from 0.5%, marking a low in the central bank's 322-year history. It also revived its long-dormant UK government bond-buying programme; announced it will start buying corporate bonds in September; and said it has lined up billions of pounds in ultracheap four-year loans for banks to fuel lending.