King Closer to Winning BOE Stimulus Debate After Factory Slump

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King may be closer to getting his way on stimulus after an unexpected slump in manufacturing raised the prospect of more bond purchases next week.

Citigroup Inc., ING Bank NV and BNP Paribas SA are among banks predicting a 25 billion-pound ($37.6 billion) increase in quantitative easing on March 7. The median of 39 economists is for the target to remain at 375 billion pounds, with 11 forecasting an increase, according to a Bloomberg News survey. That’s the biggest split among economists since July.