BOE Splits Between Insiders and Outsiders Over Subzero Rates
Article summary
Bloomberg) — The Bank of England is seeing old fault lines open up as officials lock horns on whether to take interest rates below zero for the first time. The minority of part-time “external” officials tend to be more open to subzero policy. There is a split in the MPC between internals and externals on negative rates, and I think that has been a key factor in the Bank of England’s delay in additional stimulus,” said Robert Wood, chief U.K. economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and a former BOE official. Those lines of disagreement help explain the institution’s slow-paced approach to subzero rates in the intellectual battle over how to aid Britain’s devastated economy beyond the current stimulus. […] It’s not difficult, you just have to be willing to do it. You have to be brave and coherent.”
