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| Negative interest rates idea floated by Bank's Paul Tucker | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker has said negative interest rates should be considered. | Bank of England deputy governor Paul Tucker has said negative interest rates should be considered. |
| The Bank rate has been at a record low of 0.5% for almost four years. | |
| A negative interest rate would mean the central bank charges banks to hold their money and could encourage them to lend out more of their funds. | A negative interest rate would mean the central bank charges banks to hold their money and could encourage them to lend out more of their funds. |
| Speaking to MPs on the Treasury Committee, Mr Tucker said: "This would be an extraordinary thing to do and it needs to be thought through carefully." | Speaking to MPs on the Treasury Committee, Mr Tucker said: "This would be an extraordinary thing to do and it needs to be thought through carefully." |
| He said it was an idea he had raised as one of the possible alternative ideas to boost the economy. | |
| "I hope we will think about whether there are constraints to setting negative interest rates," Mr Tucker told MPs. | |
| With interest rates at a record low, there is little scope for central banks to use conventional means to stimulate the UK's weak economy, which has dipped in and out of recession since the 2008 financial crisis. | |
| The Bank has resorted to so-called quantitative easing (QE), pumping billions into the economy. Minutes of the last meeting of the Bank showed that the governor, Sir Mervyn King, was outvoted in calling to expand QE from its current level of £375bn. | |
| Other policy measures discussed included buying assets other than government bonds and reducing the marginal rate of interest on bank reserves held at the Bank to encourage them to lend more. | |
| Untested ideas | |
| Negative interest rates have been discussed by other countries. Negative rates would have a detrimental impact on savers, who have already seen the income from their savings fall since the financial crisis. | Negative interest rates have been discussed by other countries. Negative rates would have a detrimental impact on savers, who have already seen the income from their savings fall since the financial crisis. |
| In 2009, the Swedish central bank, the Riksbank, surprised many when it set a rate of -0.25%. The move below zero for the first time was seen as largely symbolic. | |
| That was on the deposit rate, the rate put on money left by commercial banks at the central bank, which it normally earns interest on. | |
| Banks were, in effect, being charged for keeping money at the central bank rather than lending it out to consumers and businesses to boost consumer spending and growth. | |
| In December, the Swiss bank Credit Suisse imposed negative rates on bank deposits to tame demand for the Swiss franc. |