Bank of England reform since 1998: Economic Affairs Committee to hold first evidence session
Monday 6 March 2023
On Tuesday 7 March the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee will be taking evidence for its new inquiry on the Bank of England.
At 3pm, the committee will hear from:
- Professor David Aikman, Professor of Finance and Director of the Qatar Centre for Global Banking and Finance at King's Business School, King's College London
- Professor Jagjit Chadha, Director at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research
- Professor Frederic Malherbe, Professor of Economics and Finance at University College London.
The meeting will be held in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords. It will also be streamed live on Parliament TV.
Topics the committee is likely to cover in these sessions include:
- How well the economy has been served by the creation of an independent Bank of England.
- Whether the formulation of the Bank’s mandates in the 1998 Act should have focussed more on the interdependence between fiscal and monetary policy.
- The effectiveness of the creation of two regulatory bodies – the Prudential Regulation Authority and Financial Conduct Authority – in place of the Financial Services Authority.
- How prudent it is to mandate the same body, the Bank, to regulate both micro and macroprudential risk assessment.
- Whether the successive additions to the Bank’s responsibilities since 1998 has meant the Bank is being asked to do too much.
- The right balance between the Bank of England’s transparency and operational independence.
More about this inquiry
2023 marks the 25th anniversary of the Bank of England Act 1998. This Act gave the Bank of England its independence and reformed the structure, responsibilities and functions of the Bank.
The Economic Affairs Committee has launched an inquiry to examine how operational independence is working. It will focus on the Bank’s role and remit; whether the governance structures of the Bank are appropriate; and how the Bank is being held accountable for its actions.
It will not look at individual policy decisions that the Bank has taken.
Last week the committee published a call for evidence. The deadline for the submissions is midday on Thursday 13 April 2023.
