London, April 18 (Bloomberg) -- The British pound was little changed against thedollar before the Bank of England shows in its minutes published today how itsinterest rate-setting committee voted when it lowered borrowing costs on April 5. Sterling was trading at $1.4302 compared to $1.4276 yesterday. It's fallen 4.2percent relative to the U.S. currency this year. Against the euro, the pound wasat 61.56 pence from 61.68. Yesterday, it reached a four-month high of 61.27pence against the single currency. The meeting's minutes will indicate how the nine members of the Monetary PolicyCommittee voted when they cut the BOE's key interest rate by 25 basis points to5.5 percent. Sterling may gain if the split of votes suggests there will be furtherrate cuts to protect the U.K. from a global economic slowdown, analysts said.The minutes are due out at 9.30 a.m. London time. The vote is ``likely to be unanimous,'' said Geraldine Concagh, a senioreconomist at Allied Irish Banks. ``With markets rewarding currencies whosecentral banks are reducing rates, that should be supportive'' for sterling. In a statement accompanying the rate decision, the bank cited ``downside risksto the U.K. economy'' from the global economic slowdown, the recent fall inequity markets and the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease as reasons for therate cut. ``The general feeling is that (the MPC members are) going to be quite dovish andwill cut again,'' said Glenn Davies, chief economist at Credit Lyonnais Securities.``That's going to be good for the pound.'' Investors will be watching a report on retail sales due Friday for further clues onthe health of the economy. Sales in Britain's shops and supermarkets probably rose 0.4 percent in Marchafter climbing 0.6 percent the month before, according to a Bloomberg Newssurvey. The annual rate of growth probably decreased to 5.4 percent from 5.8percent in February. Retail sales ``give a good indication of what consumer sentiment is like,'' saidAllied Irish's Concagh. A report on retail prices slated for Thursday won't have as much influence oncurrency markets since inflation has remained below the BOE's 2.5 percenttarget for almost two years, analysts said.