LONDON (AP) - The Bank of England held interest rates steady at a record low of 0.5 percent for the 18th consecutive month yesterday amid growing fears about a double-dip recession.

Most economists expect rates to stay at that level well into next year and are also predicting that the central bank will soon restart its £200 billion ($308 billion) asset purchase programme to give the struggling economy a boost.

Worries about surging inflation were likely behind the bank's decision to leave that so-called quantitative easing program, which expands the supply of money in the economy via the bank's payment for assets, unchanged this month.

"The Bank of England has held fire for another month but we think the quantitative easing gun is about to be re-loaded and the order to shoot given," said Graeme Leach, the chief economist at the Institute of Directors.

The British central bank's decision came as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warned that central banks across the Group of Seven economies may need to increase support measures.

The OECD also said that severe austerity measures may need to be put on hold as the global recovery slows more sharply than expected, although its forecasts for Britain are among the strongest of all the seven major economies.

The British economy grew 1.2 percent in the three months to June, but recent data, particularly in the manufacturing and services sectors, has suggested a significant slowdown in growth in the third quarter.

Sharp spending cuts imposed by Prime Minister David Cameron's government to bring down the country's huge budget are also weighing on the economic outlook.

"The government's tough deficit-reduction measures, although necessary to repair the public finances, will increase the threat of an economic setback," said David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce. "Since sustaining the recovery must remain the priority, it is absolutely vital that the MPC maintains the current low level of interest rates until the middle of 2011 at the earliest."

But one member of the bank's nine-strong Monetary Policy Committee has suggested in recent months that policymakers should be more immediately concerned with stubbornly high inflation.

Andrew Sentence voted for a quarter-point increase in rates in June, July and August as inflation shot above the bank's two percent target. It is currently running at an annual rate of 3.1 percent.

Minutes of the September meeting will be released later this month, revealing details of the vote.

Interest rates have been on hold for the longest spell since the Bank of England was given responsibility for setting monetary policy by the government in 1997. The previous record was 15 months during November 2001 and February 2003 when rates were held at four percent.