18 Dec 2014
The Bank of England (BoE) is due to cut interest rate policy meetings to eight per year, while policymakers’ discussions will be transcribed and published.
Governor of the BoE, Mark Carney, said: ‘The Bank has immense responsibilities for monetary stability, financial stability and for micro-prudential regulation. And with these responsibilities comes the need for effective transparency, genuine accountability and robust governance’.
The changes will mean that, from 2016, the current monthly meetings of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will be reduced to eight per year. Current policy is to destroy interest rate meeting recordings after the minutes have been published; this will change to allow for full transcripts to be published beginning in 2023. The MPC will also hold joint meetings with the Financial Policy Committee (FPC) four times per year from 2016.
Behind the decision to hold MPC meetings every six weeks is the benefit of bringing them in line with the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve.
Mr Carney said this decision was ‘the most significant set of changes to how we present and explain our interest rate decisions since the MPC was formed in 1997’.
He added: ‘These changes will enhance our transparency and make us more accountable to the British people’.