Latest round of money printing cut credit costs
QUANTITATIVE easing (QE) boosted market confidence again in the third quarter, the Bank of England said in a report published yesterday.
And the policy of printing money to buy government bonds is still having the desired effect of pushing down corporate borrowing costs, despite fears that QE is gradually becoming less effective over time.
The Bank said the combined action of several central bank had a particularly strong impact.
“Financial market sentiment reportedly improved over the review period, initially driven by increased expectations of further policy measures by central banks and latterly following policy announcements,” said the report.
“In addition to the monetary policy committee’s (MPC) decision on 5 July to purchase additional assets financed by the creation of central bank reserves, these announcements included the launch of the Funding for Lending Scheme by the Bank and HM Treasury, the European Central Bank’s outright monetary transactions and further asset purchases by the US Federal Reserve.”
It pointed to a narrowing of corporate bond spreads, which remain below the levels seen at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.