United Kingdom - Lending Rate





United Kingdom: Lending Rate

Mnemonic IRLEND.IGBR
Unit %, NSA
Adjustments Not Seasonally Adjusted
Business Daily
Data 18 Mar 2024 5.25
15 Mar 2024 5.25

Series Information

Source Bank of England
Release Monetary Policy Announcement
Frequency Business Daily
Start Date 3/5/1970
End Date 3/18/2024

United Kingdom: Markets

Reference Last Previous Units Frequency
Lending Rate 18 Mar 2024 5.25 5.25 %, NSA Business Daily
Monetary Policy Rate 18 Mar 2024 5.25 5.25 %, NSA Business Daily
Average Long-term Government Bond Feb 2024 0.66 0.52 % Monthly
Money Market Rate 31 Dec 2021 0.18 0.19 % p.a., NSA Business Daily
Treasury Bills (over 31 days) Jun 2018 0.5 0.5 % Monthly

Release Information

Monetary policy rate for the U.K., set by the Bank of England. Daily from 1970.

The source writes:

The MPC currently meets every month to set the interest rate. After the meeting on 15 September 2016, the meetings changed to eight times a year. This means that the meeting planned for October 2016 will no longer take place. These changes follow the recommendations of the Warsh Review, and are set out in the Bank of England and Financial Services Act 2016.

The source writes:

The Bank of England Act 1998 gives the Bank of England operational responsibility for setting monetary policy to meet the Government’s inflation target. Operational decisions are taken by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee

A principal objective of any central bank is to safeguard the value of the currency in terms of what it will purchase. Rising prices – inflation – reduces the value of money. Monetary policy is directed to achieving this objective and providing a framework for non-inflationary economic growth. As in most other developed countries, monetary policy operates in the UK mainly through influencing the price of money – the interest rate.

Interest rates are set by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee. The MPC sets an interest rate it judges will enable the inflation target to be met. The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is made up of nine members – the Governor, the three Deputy Governors for Monetary Policy, Financial Stability and Markets & Banking, the Bank's Chief Economist and four external members appointed directly by the Chancellor. The appointment of independent members is designed to ensure that the MPC benefits from thinking and expertise in addition to that gained inside the Bank of England. 

Members serve fixed terms after which they may be replaced or re-appointed.

Each member of the MPC has expertise in the field of economics and monetary policy. Members do not represent individual groups or areas. They are independent. Each member of the Committee has a vote to set interest rates at the level they believe is consistent with meeting the inflation target. The MPC's decision is made on the basis of one-person, one vote. It is not based on a consensus of opinion. It reflects the votes of each individual member of the Committee.

A representative from the Treasury also sits with the Committee at its meetings. The Treasury representative can discuss policy issues but is not allowed to vote. The purpose is to ensure that the MPC is fully briefed on fiscal policy developments and other aspects of the Government's economic policies, and that the Chancellor is kept fully informed about monetary policy.

The MPC is committed to the greatest possible degree of transparency around its decision-making. The minutes of the MPC meetings are published simultaneously with the interest rate decision. They also record the votes of the individual members of the Committee. The minutes give a full account of the policy discussion, including differences of view. As recommended by the Warsh Review, beginning from [March 2015] transcripts of the MPC’s policy meetings be published with an eight-year lag.

No revisions have been observed. The published rate is final.

The MPC’s final meeting – its second policy meeting – is normally held on the Wednesday. Following further discussion on the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the Governor puts to the meeting the policy which he believes will command a majority and members of the MPC vote. Any member in a minority is asked to say what level of interest rates he or she would have preferred. The interest rate decision is published alongside the minutes of the MPC’s meetings at 12 noon on the Thursday. 

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