Bank of England Split on Quantitative Easing

More members of the Bank of England’s policy setting Monetary Policy Committee supported pumping extra money into the economy this month; according to the Bank of England’s minutes to its June policy meeting; which have been released today.

Last month a Bank of England policymaker, David Miles, was the only official to call for an expansion of quantitative easing; although it was generally believed by economists that he would be joined by one or two further members of the Monetary Policy Committee this month.

However, the minutes show far stronger explicit support for more quantitative easing, with the Bank of England’s governor Sir Mervyn King, David Miles and Adam Posen voting to boost quantitative easing by £50 billion.

Another member of the committee, Paul Fischer, favoured a £25 billion rise on the current level of £325 billion.

It is the first five-four split on the Monetary Policy Committee since June 2007.

Along with revealing that there was a split on the Monetary Policy Committee in regard to further quantitative easing; the minutes from the Bank of England, said: “On balance, most members judged that some further economic stimulus was either warranted immediately or would probably become warranted in order to meet the inflation target.”