BOE reports record usage of short-term liquidity repo

THE Bank of England allotted a record amount of one-week funds in a short-term repo operation on Thursday (Apr 25) as it seeks to offset the impact on market interest rates of running down its stock of government bonds.

The BOE provided £7.587 billion (S$12.9 billion) of seven-day funds in its short-term repo operation, the largest single usage of the facility since it launched in October 2022, after other highs were set in recent weeks.

The previous record of £5.384 billion was touched on Apr 11.

The BOE uses the weekly repo to help keep money market rates close to its official Bank Rate while it takes reserves out of the financial system with its quantitative tightening programme.

Under QT, the BOE is selling a large chunk of the government bonds that it bought over the past 15 years via its quantitative easing programme, and allowing others to mature. REUTERS