LONDON (AFX) - The Bank of England's monetary policy committee voted unanimously on March 7 to hold the repo rate at 4.0 pct, according to the meeting minutes. The minutes released this morning said the evidence since February "pointed to somewhat stronger prospects for UK activity". While it is likely that this would imply higher inflation than was envisaged in February, it is too early to know by how much and for how long, the minutes said. Inflation is, however, likely to be marginally below the target of 2.50 pct for some time, the nine-member committee agreed. "It was therefore appropriate to wait for further evidence to assess the change to inflationary prospects," the minutes said. "The committee was clear that interest rates should not be changed this month," the minutes said. "But it would be important to monitor closely how the outlook for inflation evolved month to month and the committee stood ready to adjust rates in either direction as necessary," the minutes said. MPC members agreed that the downside risks for world economic activity in 2002 have "diminished" and that while backward-looking euro zone economic figures remain "weak", forward-looking numbers are "more encouraging". Unusually, there were no dissenting camps during the debate on rates, according to the minutes.