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MPC minutes: Miles calls for £25bn boost to QE

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  • 21/11/2012
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MPC minutes: Miles calls for £25bn boost to QE
The minutes of the last Monetary Policy Committee meeting held on 7 and 8 November reveal David Miles was the only member calling for a boost to the Bank of England's quantitative easing programme.

Miles was the only one of the nine members to vote for an additional £25bn of QE, which would take the total size of the asset purchase scheme to £400bn.

The committee was unanimous in its decision to hold the base rate at 0.5%, however.  

Earlier this week Miles said the Bank still has the ‘firepower’ to boost the economy through another round of QE.

“We may need more stimulus. That will depend on how the headwinds holding back growth play out,” he said, adding there is likely to be some positive impact from the BoE’s Funding for Lending scheme, put in place to make loans cheaper and more plentiful.

“If it turns out that not enough has been done, that the economy is going to stay in a recessionary state and that is going to drive inflation down, there is more we can do. We have not run out of ammunition. There is the scope for more quantitative easing … it remains a powerful weapon.”

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 3 and 4 October showed the committee was divided on whether to commit to further stimulus, fearing the impact of lower long-term yields on corporate debt and equity on the broader economy.

While the Committee voted 9-0 to keep rates on hold and asset purchases unchanged at £375bn, there were “differences of view” regarding the need for more QE in future.

 

 

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