The Bank of England (BoE) is not “currently planning for or contemplating” cutting interest rates into negative territory but it will not rule anything out, the governor has said.
Speaking at a Financial Times webinar, Andrew Bailey (pictured) said this in response to the question of whether the central bank would consider using negative rates in the UK.
Bailey added: “As you approach the zero bound, the degree or convention of stimulus does reduce.
“You would get further issues as you go negative, that barrier or restriction would get worse because you would obviously get big issues for some part of the banking system.”
Earlier this week, BoE deputy governor Ben Broadbent said negative interest rates “had been thought about on and off since the financial crisis” and added it was “quite possible that more monetary easing would be needed over time”.
At the beginning of the month the bank decided to hold the base rate at of 0.1 per cent, the lowest it has ever been.
Shekina is the deputy editor at Mortgage Solutions and commercial editor at Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions. She has nearly eight years of experience in the B2B publishing market, having previously covered the hospitality, retail, pet, accounting and jewellery sectors.
Shekina has worked for Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions for almost five years. Here, she covers the market’s breaking news stories, engages with professionals in the sector, and oversees any commercially agreed content in partnership with mortgage-related companies.
This includes presenting webinars and hosting roundtable discussions on developing themes in the mortgage sector.
She is an NCTJ-trained journalist and was nominated for the Headline Money Awards Mortgage Journalist of the Year in 2021.
In her spare time, Shekina likes to read, travel, listen to music and socialise with friends.
She currently reports on current events in the mortgage market and liaises with financial clients to produce sponsored content.
Follow her on Twitter at @ShekinaMS
