Monetary Policy Committee
Encyclopedia
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the Bank of England
, which meets for two and a half days every month to decide the official interest rate
in the United Kingdom
(the Bank of England Base Rate). It is also responsible for directing other aspects of the government's monetary policy
framework, such as quantitative easing
. The Committee comprises eight members, along with the Governor of the Bank of England (as of 2011 Mervyn King
), and is responsible primarily for keeping the Consumer Price Index
(CPI) measure of inflation
close to a target set by the government (2% as of 2011).
Announced on 6 May 1997, only five days after that year's General Election
, and officially given operational responsibility for setting interest rates in the Bank of England Act 1998, the Committee was designed to be independent of political interference and thus to add credibility to interest rate decisions. Each member has one vote, for which they are held to account: full minutes of each meeting are published within two weeks, and members are regularly called before the Treasury Select Committee, as well as speaking to wider audiences at events during the year.
target (2% on the Consumer Price Index
as of 2011). The target takes the form of a "point", rather than the "band" used by the Treasury prior to 1997. The secondary aim of the Committee is to support the government's economic policies, and help it meet its targets for growth and employment. The MPC is not responsible for fiscal policy
, which is handled by the Treasury itself, but is briefed by the Treasury about fiscal policy developments at meetings. Criticism of the MPC has centred around its predominant focus on inflation to the detriment of growth and employment. There have also been complaints about the reluctance of lenders to pass on rate changes.
Under the Bank of England Act 1998 the Bank's Governor
must write an open letter of explanation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
if inflation exceeds the target by more than one percentage point in either direction, and once every three months thereafter until prices are back within the allowed range. It should also set out what plans the Bank has for rectifying the problem, and how long it is expected to remain at those levels in the meantime.
In January 2009 the Chancellor announced an Asset Purchase Facility (APF), to be administered by the MPC, aimed at ensuring greater liquidity in financial markets. The committee had already started to cut rates the previous autumn, but the effect of such changes can take up to two years; equally, rates could not go below zero. By March 2009, faced with very low levels on inflation and interest rates already at 0.5%, the MPC voted to start the process of quantitative easing
–the injection of money directly into the economy–via the APF. It had the Bank buy government bonds (gilts), along with a smaller amount of high-quality debt issued by private companies. (As of August 2010, it holds these in a ratio of about 160 to 1 in favour of the gilts.)
set interest rates. After reforms in 1992, officials held regular meetings and published minutes, but were not independent of government, leading to a feeling that political factors were clouding what should be purely economic judgements on monetary policy.
On 6 May 1997, operational responsibility to set interest rates was granted to the independent Bank of England by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown
. Guidelines for the creation of a new "Monetary Policy Committee" were laid out in the Bank of England Act 1998. The Act also set out the responsibilities of the MPC: it would meet monthly; its membership comprise the Governor, two Deputy Governors, two of the Bank's Executive Directors and four members appointed by the Chancellor. It should publish minutes of all meetings within six weeks (in October 1998 the committee announced plans to publish far more quickly, after only one). The Act gave the government responsibility for specifying its price stability target and growth and employment objectives at least annually. The government reserved the right to instruct the Bank on what rate to set in times of emergency.
The years 1998 to 2006 witnessed an unprecedented period of price stability - during which inflation stayed within a percentage point of the target - despite earlier predictions that it could move outside the range forty or more percent of the time. A 2007 report produced for the Treasury Committee
noted that the MPC's independence of government "has reduced the scope for short-term political considerations to enter into the determination of interest rates." The creation of the MPC, it said, brought with it "an immediate credibility gain".
The original inflation target for the MPC was 2.5% on the RPI-X
measure of inflation, but in 2003 this was changed to 2% on CPI
. Under the Bank of England Act, on 16 April 2007, the governor (Mervyn King), was obliged to write the first MPC open letter to the chancellor (then Gordon Brown), explaining why the inflation had deviated from the target of 2% and reached 3.1%. With prices more unstable since 2007, as of November 2011, he has had to write 13 such letters to chancellors.
In its first ten years, the MPC kept interest rates relatively stable between 3.5% and 7.5%. Between October 2008 and March the following year, however, base rate was cut six times to an all-time low of 0.5%. In March 2009, the MPC launched a programme of quantitative easing
, initially injecting £75 billion into the economy. As of March 2010, it voted to keep rates at 0.5% and had increased the amount of money set aside for quantitative easing to £200 billion.
Each member has one vote of equal weight, for which they can be held publicly accountable. The Governor chairs the meeting and is the last to cast his vote, acting as a casting vote in event of a tie. Representatives from the Treasury
can attend the meeting, but only as non-voting observers.
; in 2010, for example, the meeting was postponed from the 5/6 to the 7/10 May in order to avoid conflicting with the election schedule for the 6th.
On the first day of each meeting, the Committee studies data relating to the UK economy, as well as the worldwide economy, presented by the Bank's economists and regional representatives, and topics for discussion are identified. On the second day, each member is asked their views about the direction of policy they would like to see. The Governor chooses the policy most likely to command a majority and a vote is then taken to confirm; each member gets one vote. The interest rate decisions are announced at noon of the second day of the meeting, following the conclusion of the meeting. Minutes of each meeting, which explain the reasons for the decision and list the votes of each member, are published on the Bank's website after a two-week delay. Those in the minority are asked to give the action they would have preferred.
Other than monthly meetings, members of the MPC can be called upon by parliament to answer questions regarding their decisions, via parliamentary committee meetings, often those of the Treasury Committee. MPC members also speak to audiences throughout the country, with the same aim. Their views and expectations for inflation are also republished in the Bank's quarterly inflation report.
Other, former members of the Committee (by date of appointment) are:
The dates listed show when their current terms of appointment are due to, or did, end.
As of January 2008, Mervyn King, the Bank of England's current Governor, is the only MPC member to have taken part in every meeting since 1997. As of 2007, Kate Barker is the only external member to date to have been appointed for three terms, but she is stepping down after July 2010.
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
, which meets for two and a half days every month to decide the official interest rate
Interest rate
An interest rate is the rate at which interest is paid by a borrower for the use of money that they borrow from a lender. For example, a small company borrows capital from a bank to buy new assets for their business, and in return the lender receives interest at a predetermined interest rate for...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(the Bank of England Base Rate). It is also responsible for directing other aspects of the government's monetary policy
Monetary policy
Monetary policy is the process by which the monetary authority of a country controls the supply of money, often targeting a rate of interest for the purpose of promoting economic growth and stability. The official goals usually include relatively stable prices and low unemployment...
framework, such as quantitative easing
Quantitative easing
Quantitative easing is an unconventional monetary policy used by central banks to stimulate the national economy when conventional monetary policy has become ineffective. A central bank buys financial assets to inject a pre-determined quantity of money into the economy...
. The Committee comprises eight members, along with the Governor of the Bank of England (as of 2011 Mervyn King
Mervyn King (economist)
An ex-officio member of the Bank's interest-rate setting Monetary Policy Committee since its inception in 1997, Sir Mervyn is the only person to have taken part in every one of its monthly meetings to date. His voting style is often seen as "hawkish", a perspective that emphasises the dangers of...
), and is responsible primarily for keeping the Consumer Price Index
Consumer Price Index (United Kingdom)
The Consumer Price Index is the official measure of inflation of consumer prices of the United Kingdom. It is also called the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices .-History:...
(CPI) measure of inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
close to a target set by the government (2% as of 2011).
Announced on 6 May 1997, only five days after that year's General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, and officially given operational responsibility for setting interest rates in the Bank of England Act 1998, the Committee was designed to be independent of political interference and thus to add credibility to interest rate decisions. Each member has one vote, for which they are held to account: full minutes of each meeting are published within two weeks, and members are regularly called before the Treasury Select Committee, as well as speaking to wider audiences at events during the year.
Purpose
The Committee is responsible for formulating the United Kingdom's monetary policy, most commonly via the setting of the rate at it which it lends to banks (officially the Bank of England Base Rate or BOEBR for short). As laid out in law, decisions are made with a primary aim of price stability, defined by the government's inflationInflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
target (2% on the Consumer Price Index
Consumer Price Index (United Kingdom)
The Consumer Price Index is the official measure of inflation of consumer prices of the United Kingdom. It is also called the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices .-History:...
as of 2011). The target takes the form of a "point", rather than the "band" used by the Treasury prior to 1997. The secondary aim of the Committee is to support the government's economic policies, and help it meet its targets for growth and employment. The MPC is not responsible for fiscal policy
Fiscal policy
In economics and political science, fiscal policy is the use of government expenditure and revenue collection to influence the economy....
, which is handled by the Treasury itself, but is briefed by the Treasury about fiscal policy developments at meetings. Criticism of the MPC has centred around its predominant focus on inflation to the detriment of growth and employment. There have also been complaints about the reluctance of lenders to pass on rate changes.
Under the Bank of England Act 1998 the Bank's Governor
Governor of the Bank of England
The Governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the Bank, with the incumbent grooming his or her successor...
must write an open letter of explanation to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
if inflation exceeds the target by more than one percentage point in either direction, and once every three months thereafter until prices are back within the allowed range. It should also set out what plans the Bank has for rectifying the problem, and how long it is expected to remain at those levels in the meantime.
In January 2009 the Chancellor announced an Asset Purchase Facility (APF), to be administered by the MPC, aimed at ensuring greater liquidity in financial markets. The committee had already started to cut rates the previous autumn, but the effect of such changes can take up to two years; equally, rates could not go below zero. By March 2009, faced with very low levels on inflation and interest rates already at 0.5%, the MPC voted to start the process of quantitative easing
Quantitative easing
Quantitative easing is an unconventional monetary policy used by central banks to stimulate the national economy when conventional monetary policy has become ineffective. A central bank buys financial assets to inject a pre-determined quantity of money into the economy...
–the injection of money directly into the economy–via the APF. It had the Bank buy government bonds (gilts), along with a smaller amount of high-quality debt issued by private companies. (As of August 2010, it holds these in a ratio of about 160 to 1 in favour of the gilts.)
History
Traditionally, the TreasuryHM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
set interest rates. After reforms in 1992, officials held regular meetings and published minutes, but were not independent of government, leading to a feeling that political factors were clouding what should be purely economic judgements on monetary policy.
On 6 May 1997, operational responsibility to set interest rates was granted to the independent Bank of England by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
. Guidelines for the creation of a new "Monetary Policy Committee" were laid out in the Bank of England Act 1998. The Act also set out the responsibilities of the MPC: it would meet monthly; its membership comprise the Governor, two Deputy Governors, two of the Bank's Executive Directors and four members appointed by the Chancellor. It should publish minutes of all meetings within six weeks (in October 1998 the committee announced plans to publish far more quickly, after only one). The Act gave the government responsibility for specifying its price stability target and growth and employment objectives at least annually. The government reserved the right to instruct the Bank on what rate to set in times of emergency.
The years 1998 to 2006 witnessed an unprecedented period of price stability - during which inflation stayed within a percentage point of the target - despite earlier predictions that it could move outside the range forty or more percent of the time. A 2007 report produced for the Treasury Committee
Treasury Committee
The House of Commons Treasury Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
noted that the MPC's independence of government "has reduced the scope for short-term political considerations to enter into the determination of interest rates." The creation of the MPC, it said, brought with it "an immediate credibility gain".
The original inflation target for the MPC was 2.5% on the RPI-X
RPIX
RPIX is a measure of inflation in the United Kingdom, equivalent to the all items Retail Price Index excluding mortgage interest payments.-History:It was the UK's target rate of inflation from October 1992 to December 2003...
measure of inflation, but in 2003 this was changed to 2% on CPI
Consumer Price Index (United Kingdom)
The Consumer Price Index is the official measure of inflation of consumer prices of the United Kingdom. It is also called the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices .-History:...
. Under the Bank of England Act, on 16 April 2007, the governor (Mervyn King), was obliged to write the first MPC open letter to the chancellor (then Gordon Brown), explaining why the inflation had deviated from the target of 2% and reached 3.1%. With prices more unstable since 2007, as of November 2011, he has had to write 13 such letters to chancellors.
In its first ten years, the MPC kept interest rates relatively stable between 3.5% and 7.5%. Between October 2008 and March the following year, however, base rate was cut six times to an all-time low of 0.5%. In March 2009, the MPC launched a programme of quantitative easing
Quantitative easing
Quantitative easing is an unconventional monetary policy used by central banks to stimulate the national economy when conventional monetary policy has become ineffective. A central bank buys financial assets to inject a pre-determined quantity of money into the economy...
, initially injecting £75 billion into the economy. As of March 2010, it voted to keep rates at 0.5% and had increased the amount of money set aside for quantitative easing to £200 billion.
Composition
The Committee comprises:- The Governor of the BankGovernor of the Bank of EnglandThe Governor of the Bank of England is the most senior position in the Bank of England. It is nominally a civil service post, but the appointment tends to be from within the Bank, with the incumbent grooming his or her successor...
- The two Deputy Governors
- The Executive Director for Monetary Analysis and Statistics, the Bank's Chief Economist
- The Executive Director for Markets
- Four external members, appointed by the Chancellor of the ExchequerChancellor of the ExchequerThe Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
for a renewable three year term
Each member has one vote of equal weight, for which they can be held publicly accountable. The Governor chairs the meeting and is the last to cast his vote, acting as a casting vote in event of a tie. Representatives from the Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
can attend the meeting, but only as non-voting observers.
Meetings
After a half-day "pre-MPC meeting", usually the Friday before, meetings are held over two days, typically on the Wednesday and Thursday following the first Monday of each month. This is sometimes deviated from, including in the event of general electionGeneral election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
; in 2010, for example, the meeting was postponed from the 5/6 to the 7/10 May in order to avoid conflicting with the election schedule for the 6th.
On the first day of each meeting, the Committee studies data relating to the UK economy, as well as the worldwide economy, presented by the Bank's economists and regional representatives, and topics for discussion are identified. On the second day, each member is asked their views about the direction of policy they would like to see. The Governor chooses the policy most likely to command a majority and a vote is then taken to confirm; each member gets one vote. The interest rate decisions are announced at noon of the second day of the meeting, following the conclusion of the meeting. Minutes of each meeting, which explain the reasons for the decision and list the votes of each member, are published on the Bank's website after a two-week delay. Those in the minority are asked to give the action they would have preferred.
Other than monthly meetings, members of the MPC can be called upon by parliament to answer questions regarding their decisions, via parliamentary committee meetings, often those of the Treasury Committee. MPC members also speak to audiences throughout the country, with the same aim. Their views and expectations for inflation are also republished in the Bank's quarterly inflation report.
Membership
To date, 27 men and 4 women have served on the MPC. The current Committee comprises (by status):- Mervyn KingMervyn King (economist)An ex-officio member of the Bank's interest-rate setting Monetary Policy Committee since its inception in 1997, Sir Mervyn is the only person to have taken part in every one of its monthly meetings to date. His voting style is often seen as "hawkish", a perspective that emphasises the dangers of...
(June 1997 – 30 June 2013, currently Governor) - Charles BeanCharlie BeanCharles Richard "Charlie" Bean is Deputy Governor at the Bank of England.Bean attended Brentwood School and Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and was a contemporary of the comedian Griff Rhys Jones at both and the writer Douglas Adams at Brentwood School. He worked at Her Majesty's Treasury. He gained...
(October 2000 – 30 June 2013, currently Deputy Governor) - Paul TuckerPaul Tucker (banker)Paul Tucker is the Bank of England's executive director and has served on the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee from June 2002 and both the interim and permanent Financial Policy Committee...
(June 2002 – 28 February 2014, currently Deputy Governor) - Spencer DaleSpencer DaleSpencer Dale is Executive Director and chief economist of the Bank of England.He was educated at the University of Wales, gaining BSc in Economics in 1988 and at the University of Warwick, gaining an MSc in Economics in 1989, wherapon he immediately joined the Bank of England. He was appointed to...
(1 July 2008 – 31 May 2013, currently Executive Director for Monetary Analysis and Statistics) - Paul FisherPaul Fisher (economist)Paul Fisher is a British economist, and is Executive Director of the Bank of England's Market's division. Previously head of the Bank of England's Foreign Exchange Division, he was appointed to the Bank of England's interest rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee from March 2009 to June...
(1 March 2009 – 31 May 2014, currently Executive Director for Markets) - David MilesDavid MilesDavid Miles is a British economist. He is a Visiting Professor at Imperial College London and former Chief UK Economist of Morgan Stanley...
(1 June 2009 – 31 May 2012, external member) - Adam PosenAdam PosenAdam S. Posen is an American economist, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England and a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics...
(1 September 2009 – 31 August 2012, external member) - Martin WealeMartin WealeDr. Martin R. Weale CBE is a British economist. On 5 July 2010 it was announced that he would join the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, replacing Kate Barker. Since 1995, he has also held the position of director at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research...
(1 August 2010 – 31 July 2013, external member) - Ben BroadbentBen BroadbentBenjamin R Broadbent is a British economist, currently chief European economist at Goldman Sachs. In June 2011, he replaced the departing Andrew Sentance on the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee....
(1 June 2011 – 31 May 2014, external member)
Other, former members of the Committee (by date of appointment) are:
- Sir Edward George (June 1997 – June 2003)
- Howard DaviesHoward Davies (LSE)Sir Howard Davies is a British economist. Davies served as Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science from 2003 to May 2011, having decided to resign from the position on 3 March 2011 following concern over the institution's decision to accept funding from a foundation...
(June – July 1997) - Willem BuiterWillem BuiterWillem Hendrik Buiter Willem Hendrik Buiter Willem Hendrik Buiter (born September 26, 1949]] was a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee from June 1997-May 2000. He joined the London School of Economics as a chair in the European Institute in September 2005....
(June 1997 – May 2000) - Charles GoodhartCharles GoodhartCharles Albert Eric Goodhart, CBE, FBA is an economist. He was a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee from June 1997-May 2000 and a professor at the London School of Economics . He is the developer of Goodhart's law, an economic law named after him...
(June 1997 – May 2000) - Ian PlenderleithIan PlenderleithIan Plenderleith was a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee from June 1997-May 2002.-References:...
(June 1997 – May 2002) - David ClementiDavid ClementiSir David Cecil Clementi is a former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England. Clementi also holds positions on the boards of several large corporations, including Chairman of Prudential plc, one of Britain's largest insurance companies, and is a non-executive director on the board of governors of...
(September 1997 – August 2002) - DeAnne JuliusDeAnne JuliusDeAnne Shirley Julius is a former CIA analyst and a British-based American economist, notable as a founder member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England. She has also worked at the World Bank and extensively in the private sector, and since July 2003 she has been Chairman of...
(September 1997 – May 2001) - Sir Alan BuddAlan BuddSir Alan Peter Budd is a prominent British economist, who was a founding member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee in 1997....
(December 1997 – May 1999) - Sir John Vickers (June 1998 – September 2000)
- Sushil WadhwaniSushil WadhwaniSushil Wadhwani CBE was a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee from June 1999 to May 2002. He is also the founder and chief executive officer of .-References:...
(June 1999 – May 2002) - Christopher AllsoppChristopher AllsoppChristopher Allsopp is a British economist. He is Director of the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies, a Fellow of New College, Oxford, and Reader in Economic Policy at the University of Oxford. He has recently completed a Review of Statistics for Economic Policymaking...
(June 2000 – May 2003) - Stephen NickellStephen NickellStephen John Nickell CBE is a British economist and currently Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford.Nickell was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood and Pembroke College, Cambridge....
(June 2000 – 31 May 2006) - Kate BarkerKate BarkerKate Barker CBE is a British economist.Barker grew up in Stoke-on-Trent. She received a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Hilda's College, Oxford in 1979 and worked for a large pension fund in London...
(June 2001 – 31 May 2010) - Marian BellMarian BellMarian Bell is a British economist, and was a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee from June 2002 to June 2005....
(June 2002 – June 2005) - Sir Andrew Large (September 2002 – January 2006)
- Richard LambertRichard LambertSir Richard Peter Lambert is the former Director-General of the CBI, and the present Chancellor of the University of Warwick.-Education:...
(June 2003 – March 2006) - Rachel LomaxRachel LomaxJanis Rachel Lomax in Swansea Wales is a British economist and former government official who served as Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, sitting on the Monetary Policy Committee from 1 July 2003 to 30 June 2008.-Early life:...
(1 July 2003 – 30 June 2008) - David WaltonDavid WaltonDavid Robert Walton was a British economist, and a member of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee from July 2005 until his death in June 2006....
(1 July 2005 – 21 June 2006) - Sir John GieveJohn GieveSir Edward John Watson Gieve, KCB is a former British Civil Servant, who served as Deputy Governor for Financial Stability of the Bank of England and an ex officio member of the Monetary Policy Committee from 2006 to 2009....
(16 January 2006 – March 2009) - David BlanchflowerDavid BlanchflowerDavid Graham Blanchflower CBE is a leading labour economist, currently a tenured economics professor at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire...
(1 June 2006 – 31 May 2009) - Tim BesleyTim BesleyTimothy John Besley, CBE served on the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee from September 2006 to August 2009 and is Kuwait professor of economics and political science at the London School of Economics, Director of the Suntory-Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related...
(1 September 2006 – 31 August 2009) - Andrew SentanceAndrew SentanceAndrew Sentance is Senior Economic Adviser to PwC, a position he took up in November 2011. He was an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England from October 2006 to May 2011.-Qualifications:...
(1 October 2006 – 31 May 2011)
The dates listed show when their current terms of appointment are due to, or did, end.
As of January 2008, Mervyn King, the Bank of England's current Governor, is the only MPC member to have taken part in every meeting since 1997. As of 2007, Kate Barker is the only external member to date to have been appointed for three terms, but she is stepping down after July 2010.
See also
- Federal Open Market CommitteeFederal Open Market CommitteeThe Federal Open Market Committee , a committee within the Federal Reserve System, is charged under United States law with overseeing the nation's open market operations . It is the Federal Reserve committee that makes key decisions about interest rates and the growth of the United States money...
, the equivalent structure in the United States' Federal Reserve SystemFederal Reserve SystemThe Federal Reserve System is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913 with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, largely in response to a series of financial panics, particularly a severe panic in 1907...