QE Will Cost UK Taxpayers Nothing in the Long Term, Bailey Says

The Bank of England’s quantitative-easing program is unlikely to cost the taxpayer anything over its lifetime because it saved tens of billions of pounds by lowering interest rates on government debt issuance, according to new analysis by the central bank.

Governor Andrew Bailey said in a letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves that it was likely “the fiscal benefits of QE significantly, or fully, offset the net lifetime transfers” from the Treasury to the bank.

The comments come as the BOE faces growing pressure over QE, under which it bought £895 billion ($1.2 trillion) of assets to lift ...