Select committee: Treasury Committee
Conclusion 5
Fifth Report - Quantitative Tightening
Published 7 Feb 2024
Paragraph 37
Addressed to HM Treasury
Treasury Committee Quantitative tightening All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
QT is a comparatively untested monetary policy tool, and it is understandable that the Bank would find it challenging to model its effects as part of its forecast. We have seen supporting evidence for the Bank’s contention that it is having and will have a small impact on the economy. That said, we are concerned that the Bank is taking a ‘leap in the dark’ by embarking upon a major monetary operation without specifically and separately tracking its effects. As we noted above, there is a spread of views about the appropriate pace of and risks around QT, including a risk that QT is tightening monetary conditions by more than the Bank thinks. The MPC’s ability to set the appropriate course of monetary policy could be improved if it has as full as possible an understanding of QT’s effects either at the pre-announced pace or in alternative scenarios.
From: Treasury Committee, Fifth Report - Quantitative Tightening (HC 219), paragraph 37, 7 February 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 18 April 2024 (deadline 7 April 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Treasury, the Bank of England and the Debt Management Office each responded separately, and the Committee records that none of its recommendations has been fully accepted.
- The Treasury says evaluating the overall value for money of monetary policy decisions on an ongoing basis "would not support" the MPC's independence, but that it keeps the design of the framework "under review".
- On the debt metric, the Treasury's position is that "substantial fiscal costs should not be excluded"; it says fiscal rules are "not a matter for the Bank of England".
- The Bank says a deferred asset accounting approach "would not be feasible", and that changing the accounting treatment "would not alter the underlying public sector impacts" of QE or QT.
- The Bank is "working at pace to launch an initial version" of a lending facility for insurance companies and pension funds, and says its next MPC QT review is in September.