Sterling has been bolstered by the publication of the minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC's) July meeting.Evaluating the changes in the macroeconomic climate since the previous month, the MPC identified lower funding costs for banks in large part due to falling Libor rates in London and across the eurozone. However, the committee noted that this positive development has been largely offset by a slump in equities over the course of the month. It was decided that on balance, the latter of these factors would dominate in shaping the financial industry's outlook for recovery and growth.Despite this mixed set of data, the MPC provided a fillip for the pound with the unanimous decision to maintain the asset purchase programme at £125 billion, moving against predictions that it would increase it by the maximum £25 billion.Speaking to the Financial Times, Daragh Maher, an analyst at Calyon, said that the minutes were generally bullish for the pound."We are a long way from contemplating interest rate increases, but this less pessimistic stance lends proceedings a somewhat hawkish tone that will benefit the pound," he predicted.