The Bank of England could start unwinding its quantitative easing programme in the new year if growth continues to improve, a member of The Times’ Shadow Monetary Policy Committee said.
Sir John Gieve, former deputy Governor of the Bank, said that while he expected the MPC to leave both its bond-buying programme and interest rates on hold as it begins its two-day meeting today, its “next move” would be to start allowing the stock of QE to roll off “if the output figures remain strong”.
The MPC first launched QE in 2009 and has pumped a total of £375 billion into the economy through the scheme. The Bank has reinvested the money that it has received when bonds have matured to maintain QE at