Britain: Bank of England considered bigger increase to banks' risk buffer last week

The Bank of England considered raising banks' capital requirements lastweek by more than it had previously signalled to tackle risks to the financial system including those from Brexit, the BoE said on Tuesday.

Read more at: Bank of England considered bigger increase to banks' risk buffer last week - World - Chinadaily.com.cn

Britain: BOE cuts its key interest rate to historic low

The Bank of England has announced that it has reduced its benchmark interest rate to as low as 0.25 percent – the lowest level in its history of 322 years.  The rate had been at 0.5 percent since March 2009, the media reported on Thursday.

The Bank has also announced measures to bolster Britain’s economy to address concerns that the country’s decision to leave the European Union could weigh on growth in the coming months.

Two key measures include one to buy £10 billion of high-grade corporate bonds and another - potentially worth up to £100 billion - to ensure banks keep lending even after the cut in interest rates.

A further injection of £60 billion in electronic cash into the economy has also been devised – a measure which is meant to buy government bonds, extending the existing quantitative easing (QE) program to £435bn in total.

These are parts of a four-point plan to mitigate the impact of leaving the EU.

The BoE has also added that it expects little growth in the second half of this year and that economic growth would decline sharply next year compared with its earlier forecast for 2017.

In 2017, the Bank said, there will be a sharp downgrade to growth of just 0.8 percent from a previous estimate of 2.3 percent.  This will be the biggest downgrade in growth from one Inflation Report to the next, exceeding what was seen in the financial crisis, Reuters reported. The growth outlook for 2018 was cut to 1.8 percent. 

Read more: PressTV-BoE cuts its key interest rate to historic low

Britain: Governor Bank Of England Mark Carney: "EU exit is 'biggest domestic risk'

 The possibility of Britain leaving the EU is the "biggest domestic risk to financial stability", Bank of England governor Mark Carney has said.

He told the Treasury Committee that an exit vote could create economic uncertainty, although he added that remaining in the EU also carried risks.

Mr Carney emphasised the Bank was not taking sides in the EU referendum.

But Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg accused him of making "pro-EU" comments.

The governor told the committee that an exit posed the biggest "domestic" risk in part because there could be uncertainty over such things as investment, household spending, and the impact on sterling.

Mr Carney said: "It is the biggest domestic risk to financial stability. I would say that in my judgement the global risks, including from China, are bigger than the domestic risks."

However, he told the committee that continued EU membership brought risks as well. "The principal risk - risks, I should say, because there are more than one - are associated with the unfinished business of European Monetary Union," Mr Carney said.

Read more::  Mark Carney: EU exit is 'biggest domestic risk' - BBC News

Britain: Mark Carney named Bank of England governor - by Bill Curry and Kevin Carmichael

Mark Carney is leaving the Bank of Canada to become governor of one of the world’s oldest central banks, the Bank of England.

Mr. Carney, the former Goldman Sachs investment banker who took over Canada’s central bank in 2008, will lead the Bank of England starting in July 2013.

"I'm honoured to accept this important and demanding role," said Mr. Carney, who noted that it is a critical time in the British, European and global economies.

Note EU-Digest:Goldman Sachs strikes again.

Read more: Mark Carney named Bank of England governor - The Globe and Mail

Bank of England downgrades U.K. growth forecast - CBS News

The Bank of England has trimmed its growth forecast for the U.K. economy and warned that inflation will remain above target for another year - assuming the country isn't knocked off course by turmoil in the eurozone.

In its quarterly Inflation Report released Wednesday, the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee reduced its growth forecast for this year from 1 percent just three months ago to 0.8 percent. It also abandoned a longstanding hope that consumer price inflation, now 3.5 percent, will fall back to the official 2 percent target by the end of the year.

Bank Governor Mervyn King says he now expects inflation to return to target in the second half of next year, and insisted the economy is broadly on course to recover despite sliding back into recession between October and March. The Bank still expects annual growth of 2.7 percent next year, compared to 3 percent in the February report.

Read more: Bank of England downgrades U.K. growth forecast - CBS News