Abstract
At the time of writing, early in 2014, short-term interest rates have been continuously very low for over five years, and they are expected not to increase for another year.1 Moreover, in its quantitative easing operations between 2009 and 2012, the Bank of England bought £375 billion of gilts, in exchange for its own deposit liabilities. As a result of these and other operations, bankers’ deposits in the Bank of England amount to £297 billion.2 The deposits bear interest at Bank rate and, since the Bank of England is wholly owned by the government, they represent a form of short-term government-guaranteed debt.3 In addition there are £45 billion of Treasury bills outstanding,4 so that total short-term interest-bearing government debt is about £342 billion, or 21% of GDP.
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© 2014 William A. Allen
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Allen, W.A. (2014). Epilogue: The Next Reactivation of Monetary Policy. In: Monetary Policy and Financial Repression in Britain, 1951–59. Palgrave Studies in Economic History Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137383822_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137383822_17
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-48068-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-38382-2
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