The decision by the Bank of England (BoE) to maintain the base rate for the sixth month in a row led to a surge in the UK currency on Thursday, reports Reuters.According to the newswire, some analysts had feared that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) might take action to encourage financial services providers to approve more lending.In order to do so, Reuters explains, it was believed by some that the MPC might reduce the interest paid on funds that the nation's banks choose to "park" at the BoE.However, this did not materialise, leading to the base rate being held for a sixth month at its current record low point of 0.5 per cent.Following the announcement, sterling peaked at $1.66, up from its position at $1.6520 before the base rate decision was revealed.Earlier in the week, the Dow Jones newswire noted a steady rise in sterling's fortunes as the currency crept from $1.6500 to $1.6535 over the course of Wednesday.