BoE advised to publish record of joint MPC/FPC meetings

The Bank of England's monetary policy committee (MPC) will consider publishing an account of its joint meetings with the financial policy committee (FPC), governor Mark Carney said today (November 24).

He was being grilled by the chair of the Treasury Committee, Andrew Tyrie, ostensibly on the central bank's latest inflation report. "My suggestion might be for you to consolidate something and put it in the public domain," Tyrie said, commenting on the joint meetings.

Accounts of the meetings, held to discuss topics relevant to both committees, are produced, but only some of the content of the meetings makes it into the public domain.

"One of the recent issues discussed were risks around the current account, which were of interest to both committees... In the September MPC minutes, we reflect our discussion from an MPC standpoint," said Carney.

"The MPC produce a record for the FPC, not minutes per se, but the record is faithful to the breadth of the discussion." Carney agreed the MPC would look into compiling a collaborative record.

Carney noted how the Bank of England is moving towards more joint meetings between the MPC and the FPC. "In fact that is one advantage of moving towards eight meetings of the MPC in terms of calendar space, we will be able to have more of those meetings," said Carney.

He emphasised it was "vital" each committee understood the methods of the other, and how one's actions may affect the other. At present Carney believes macro-prudential policy "compliments" monetary policy, although there may be times of "potential contradiction."

It was Gertjan Vlieghe's first time appearing before the Committee with some of his fellow MPC members - to him, there was no "straight divide" between the two bodies, which instead work along a "spectrum."

Chief economist Andrew Haldane described a similar set up: "There is an interdependence between the FPC and MPC," he said, "that underscores the importance of joint meetings. There will be times, when on the face of it, they appear to be pulling in opposite directions but that's really a matter of optics rather than substance."

He emphasised the need for these "two arms" to fulfil the Bank of England's two objectives: keeping "the macro-economy on an even keel and keeping risk taking in the economy on an even keel."