Thursday 5 March 2009

Bank of England embarks on radical plan to print money as it cuts interest rates to 0.5pc

Telegraph
"The Bank of England has slashed interest rates to the lowest level on record and pledged to pump up to £150bn of new money into the economy as it embarks on a radical new policy to fight recession."
...The sweeping move - known as quantitative easing and considered to be the "nuclear option" for central banks - was predicted, but the speed and scale of the initial investment came as a surprise. The Bank plans to fire £75bn of money into the economy over the next three months largely through the purchase of government bonds, known as gilts. The Bank is embarking on policy to prevent the UK economy - already mired in the deepest recession since the 1980s - from tipping into something worse. Despite the massive recapitalisation of the crippled banking system, unemployment is rising and consumer confidence collapsing as the crisis spreads from financial markets into the broader economy.
"Although the £75bn of quantitative easing was a bolder move than many had expected, I think that even this could prove to be insufficient," said Roger Bootle, economic adviser to Deloitte. "The Bank will probably have to do much more. And until we see firm signs that quantitative easing and other stimulus measures are working, a prolonged Japanese-style period of deflation remains a significant risk."
---------------
COMMENT:"quantitative easing" IS devaluation by another name

No comments: