Bailey Defends BOE Gilt Sales as Farage Targets Bond Policy
Updated
Updated · Bloomberg · Jun 14
Bailey Defends BOE Gilt Sales as Farage Targets Bond Policy
1 articles · Updated · Bloomberg · Jun 14
Summary
Andrew Bailey used a Times newspaper article to defend the Bank of England’s buying and selling of UK government bonds after criticism from Nigel Farage and his Reform UK party.
Bailey said the BOE’s long-running quantitative easing program — and its current tightening phase — was broadly neutral for taxpayers rather than a fiscal burden.
The governor argued the bond interventions gave crucial support to the UK economy after the 2008 global financial crisis and again during the Covid pandemic.
The defense puts the BOE’s balance-sheet unwind at the center of a widening political debate over the costs and legacy of post-crisis monetary stimulus.