Pedestrians walk past the Bank of England in the City of London, Britain June 28, 2016.

The Bank of England (BOE) cut interest rates to 0.1% and ratcheted up its bond-buying program Thursday, in an effort to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

At an emergency meeting, the central bank's monetary policy committee voted unanimously to lower borrowing costs by 15 basis points and to increase the BOE's bond-buying program to £645 billion ($752 billion), up £200 billion.

The BOE had previously cut rates to 0.25% from 0.75% on March 11.

It said the majority of additional asset purchases would comprise of U.K. government bonds and would be completed "as soon as is operationally possible."

The move follows in the footsteps of several other central banks worldwide, with many taking bold steps to hike their stimulus measures in order to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Sterling rose on the news, climbing almost 1.4% to reach $1.1770 Thursday afternoon. The U.K. currency had collapsed to a 35-year low Wednesday.