LONDON — The Bank of England kept its main U.K. interest rate unchanged at 4.50% Thursday even though the economy is barely growing and the nation faces more uncertainty in light of the tariff policies being enacted by the Trump administration in the U.S.

The decision by the nine-member Monetary Policy Committee was expected and comes a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve also kept its interest rates unchanged.

Minutes from the U.K. meeting showed one member backing a quarter-point reduction.

The rate-setting panel has reduced the Bank of England’s main rate from a 16-year high of 5.25% by a quarter of a percentage on three occasions since August, most recently in February, after inflation fell from the multidecade highs of over 10% reached in the wake of the sharp spike in energy prices following Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.

However, inflation, at 3%, remains above the bank’s 2% target and is set to push higher in coming months, even without accounting for any tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. Many economists think it could rise as high as 4% in the coming months as businesses raise prices as a result of a big increase in the minimum wage and higher payroll taxes.

“There’s a lot of economic uncertainty at the moment,” Bank Gov. Andrew Bailey said. “We still think that interest rates are on a gradually declining path, but we’ve held them at 4.5% today.”

If policymakers continue to pursue their recent gradual approach, then another cut is likely in May.

The Fed also expressed uncertainty about the economic outlook in light of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, which economists worry would lower global growth and lead to an uptick in prices.

The British economy, the sixth- largest, eked out modest growth of 0.1% in the fourth quarter, a disappointing outcome for the new Labour government, which has made boosting growth its No. 1 economic policy.