The Bank of England has finalised the sell-off of the £19.3 billion in gilts purchased in September and October 2022 to restore financial stability in the wake of the UK government’s mini-budget.
Following yesterday’s reverse enquiry window, and the subsequent bilateral sale of the small remaining holdings held on its balance sheet, the Bank of England has confirmed that it has completed the unwind of these temporary gilt holdings purchased between 28 September and 14 October.
These temporary holdings, acquired through its asset purchase programme for financial stability purposes, consisted of £12.1 billion in long-dated conventional gilts and £7.2 billion in index-linked gilts.
It began the unwind of these temporary holdings on 29 November, making these available to potential buyers through a series of reverse enquiry windows in a bid to ensure that the process was “responsive to market demand and did not trigger renewed dysfunction”.
A Bank of England spokesperson indicates that the Monetary Policy Committee has been informed of the sale in accordance with the Concordat governing the MPC’s engagement with the Bank’s executive regarding balance sheet operations.
