United Kingdom
King: no need for low rates if world recovers
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has said, according to Reuters, that if the world economy recovers, interest rates will not need to remain as low as they are. "So far we have been keeping rates low to ensure there was sufficient growth in domestic…
Is inflation targeting yesterday's success story?
The problem now for the Bank of England, this article in The Independent suggests, is that the achievement of low and stable inflation may have become a little too easy. Inflation targeting may work very well in puncturing a bubble of inflationary…
BoE holds UK interest rates steady at 3.5 pct
As most analysts predicted, the Bank of England left interest rates unchanged for the third month running on Thursday 9 October at 3.5 per cent, Reuters reported.
Bank of England Court to meet in Nottingham
The Court of the Bank of England is to meet in Nottingham at the Council House on 15 October 2003. The meeting is part of a programme of formal meetings of Court outside London.
Ex-BoE governor George joins Nestle board
Former governor of the Bank of England Sir Edward George has swapped gold bars for chocolate bars after being appointed to the board of Nestle, the world's largest food and confectionary company, according to the Daily Telegraph. He follows in the wake…
Bean on Inflation Targeting: The UK Experience
In the speech 'Inflation Targeting: The UK Experience' given on 1 October Charles Bean of the Bank of England said it was "extraordinarily difficult" to know how much to raise interest rates, if at all, to prevent a bubble in the housing market and an…
BoE's Chief Economist Bean cautious on rate rise
The Bank of England's chief economist Charles Bean said in a speech Wednesday there were good reasons for the long-term level of house prices in the UK to be higher, including low interest rates, an increase in the numbers of people living alone, and…
UK economy growth 'double the estimate'
The British economy grew twice as fast as previously thought during the second quarter of this year, official figures have showed, according to the Financial Times. The Office for National Statistics revised its estimates of growth in gross domestic…
Warning issued over UK money laundering directive
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants warned the UK Treasury on Monday 29 September, according to the Financial Times, that the new money laundering directive, due to come into force in January, may swamp the National Criminal Intelligence…
Central banks: What to achieve & how to get there
This article in the Independent newspaper says that underneath it all, central bankers are ordinary folk, and they, too, face difficulties in achieving what they want. At the Bank of England, the Monetary Policy Committee's life has been relatively short…
Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Autumn 2003
The Bank of England released its Quarterly Bulletin, Autumn 2003, on 26 September. The Bulletin includes articles titled 'Public expectations of UK inflation' and 'The optimal rate of inflation: an academic perspective'. The report also warns that…
Mervyn's smile
When the Bank of England's top brass was hauled in front of the Treasury Select Committee to explain their August Inflation Report, Mervyn King, the Bank's new governor, stole the show - although the committee did probe the voting habits of some of the…
Mervyn picks executive team
Mervyn King has completed the reshuffle of his executive team at the Bank of England. Andrew Bailey and Nigel Jenkinson are promoted, Merlyn Lowther retires and Alastair Clark is switched to become special adviser to the governor.
Mervyn King testifies to UK Treasury committee
Bank of England governor Mervyn King made a statement to the UK Treasury Select Committee, in which he discusses the outlook for the economy as well as the changeover of the BOE inflation index from RPIX to HICP: "the change in the target will need to be…
King signals Basel accord delay
Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, on Thursday told the UK Treasury Select Committee that the introduction of the new Basel capital accord "may take more time than had originally been hoped". He said that the Basel committee was a "long way…
King posits new Stability and Growth Pact
Bank of England governor Mervyn King showed himself to be at odds with his ECB counterparts by suggesting to the UK Treasury Select Committee on Thursday that Europe's current rules to keep member states' fiscal policies in check are not sustainable.
Bank of England MPC Minutes 3/4 September 2003
Minutes of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee Meeting were released on 17 September for the meeting of 3 and 4 September 2003. The minutes showed that the MPC voted 9-0 in favour of holding the repo rate at 3.5%.
MPC minutes point to UK interest rates rise
Bank of England minutes released September 17 show that for a majority on the MPC, it was a "clear-cut" decision to leave rates unchanged in September. The decision to hold the Bank's main interest rate at 3.5 per cent was decisive, but for some members…
What's goin' on?
Bank of England MPC member Stephen Nickell has just accomplished the rather unenviable task of explaining what the switch from an inflation target based on the RPIX index to the HICP index, as used in Europe, actually means. Inflation indexes: who cares?…
Nickell on Two Current Monetary Policy Issues
In a speech on 'Two Current Monetary Policy Issues' given on 16 September Stephen Nickell of the Bank of England said in the long run, thanks to differences in computational methods and the absence of the housing depreciation and council tax elements,…
Why inflation targeting is an inexact science
An article in the Independent says that in the past stronger-than-expected growth might have been a good reason to raise interest rates but if, today, stronger than expected growth results from the same process as lower-than-expected inflation, all our…
BoE Nickell: HICP will not affect monetary policy
Speaking on September 16 Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Stephen Nickell said, according to AFX UK, that the move to the HICP measure of inflation later this year would have little noticeable difference in the short run and in the long…
Bank of England Inflation Attitudes Survey, Aug 03
The Bank of England's August 2003 quarterly Inflation Attitudes Survey was published on 15 September. Median expectations of inflation over the coming year were 2.2%, up from 2.0% in May. Respondents were asked to assess the way the Bank of England is …
...and Howard's end
Sir Howard Davies, who leaves the UK's Financial Services Authority at the end of this week to take up the job of head of the London School of Economics, sensibly ducks questions about whether he wanted to be governor of the Bank of England.