Gilt rout sparks calls for Bank of England to slow ‘unusual’ bond sale programme Economics The Bank of England should slow the pace of its costly approach to unwinding quantitative easing, which is pushing up government borrowing costs and weakening the public finances at a time when both are under significant pressure, several top economists have said. The calls follow the UK’s sovereign debt being swept up in a dramatic [...]
Bank of England took ‘eye off ball on inflation’, says Jenrick Economics Robert Jenrick is set to make his first major pitch to the City, in his first major outing as Reform’s spokesman on Treasury matters. The Newark MP is expected to commit to the independence of the Bank of England but pledge to “strip the Bank of distractions which have been loaded onto it”. “We will [...]
Farage confronts ‘dinosaur’ Bailey on Bank’s independence Economics Reform UK’s Nigel Farage and Richard Tice challenged Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey on Treasury losses from quantitative tightening (QT) at a showdown meeting on Thursday morning, with market instability partly caused by the programme and stablecoins regulation raised as subjects of discussion. Farage and Tice sat down with the Bank of England Governor [...]
Bank of England’s Pill: We should not have slowed QT bond sales September 23, 2025 The Bank of England’s chief economist has hit out at colleagues’ recent decision to slow sales of the central bank’s government debt stockpile, warning it risked papering over underlying drivers of spiking government borrowing costs and causing a “more painful” crisis in the future. In a speech delivered in Geneva, Huw Pill told delegates that [...]
Bank of England likely to slow down QT programme, Investec economist says September 15, 2025 The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is likely to slow down its quantitative tightening (QT) programme over the next year, an Investec economist has said, as Britain’s central bank looks to quell concerns over rising gilt yields. “We doubt that the MPC will maintain the same pace of balance sheet reduction next year [...]
Labour deputy leader hopeful slams Rachel Reeves’ ‘excessive deference’ to OBR September 8, 2025 The prominent backbencher and former transport secretary Louise Haigh, who is a frontrunner to become the deputy leader of the Labour Party, has taken aim at Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ “excessive deference” to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and adhering to “arbitrary fiscal targets”. Senior officials in the Labour Party are set to agree on [...]
Bank of England ‘under pressure’ to slow bond sales amid market tumult September 5, 2025 The Bank of England should slow its quantitative tightening programme and stop active sales of long-dated bonds entirely in the wake of this week’s bond rout that saw the cost of long-term borrowing soar to its highest level this century, a group of top economists has said. Markets were rocked by a global sell-off in [...]
Bank of England: Interest rate cuts are near the end September 4, 2025 The Bank of England is less likely to make drastic cuts to interest rates in the coming year as officials said the current cycle could “not go on forever”. In a hearing before the Treasury Select Committee, members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) indicated markets may be correct to predict there would be no [...]
Inflation ‘plateau’ could keep interest rates higher, Bank hawk warns June 24, 2025 Bank of England officials may avoid cutting interest rates as worries inflation will remain above three per cent over the coming months leave policymakers in an “uncomfortable place”, a Monetary Policy Committee member has warned. Speaking at an event hosted by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, external member Megan Greene said the [...]
Could the Bank of England push the UK into recession? January 23, 2025 As the Bank of England scrambles to unwind the disastrous effects of quantitative easing, the hidden costs of this policy are becoming clear, says Damian Pudner Quantitative easing (QE) has long been the Bank of England’s monetary policy nuclear option. Launched in 2009 to save a collapsing financial system, it was supercharged during the pandemic, [...]