Closing post
That’s all for today – here’s our main stories, including the jump in UK inflation back to a 40-year high.
Sir Jon Cunliffe explains that the Bank couldn’t have launched its pledge to buy up to £65bn of bonds to stabilise the markets after the mini-budget, without the indemnity it received from the Treasury.
Otherwise, the risk to the Bank’s balance sheet would have been too great.
In the event, the Bank only spent a portion of the programme, and doesn’t know if it will make a profit or a loss until it sells the bonds.
Deputy governor Cunliffe says the central bank did not want to hold these bonds for a long time, telling the Treasury Committee:
“We’ve said that we’ll unwind in a timely and orderly manner,”
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