pensionsandsavings.com

  • PENSIONSANDSAVINGS.COM

    From Ros Altmann:economist and pensions,
    investment and retirement policy expert

    • pensionsandsavings.com

    pensionsandsavings.com

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    Category: Monetary Policy and Interest Rates

    Bank of England should cut rates now. Real rates remain too high and policy acts with long lags

    Bank of England should cut rates now. Real rates remain too high and policy acts with long lags

    Comments 1 comment

    Bank Of England should cut rates now they are too high.   Real rates are too high and keeping policy tight on top of QT will stifle growth. Monetary policy acts with 12-18 month lag and real rates need to fall to support economic recovery .  The announcement of today’s 2.3% CPI figure is yet more evidence of the need for interest rates to come down sooner rather than later. Current inflation numbers should not be the yardstick used by a…

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    Glad to see interest rates on hold, but monetary policy may already be excessively tight and rates may need to come down soon

    Glad to see interest rates on hold, but monetary policy may already be excessively tight and rates may need to come down soon

    Comments 0 Comment

    Glad to see Bank of England decision not to raise rates, but it is worrying that three MPC members wanted to keep tightening. It is a relief that the majority of members decided not to increase interest rates this month, but is still of concern to see three members wanting them to go up by another 0.25 % points. It is hard to understand why rates would need to increase yet again, in the face of major global tensions, leading…

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    Bank of England should put rate rises on hold and pause QT

    Bank of England should put rate rises on hold and pause QT

    Comments 0 Comment

    Bank of England must not raise rates again and should pause QT as tightening has gone too far and wider impacts need to be assessed.  Monetary policy operates with lags and there is clear risk of overkill as the massive rate rises in recent months will take time to feed through.  QE central bank bond-buying has undermined capital market risk models leaving pension funds and taxpayers exposed to large losses from QT.  Bank of England rate rises have gone too…

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    Companies should take more responsibility for curbing price rises, especially after huge pandemic

    Companies should take more responsibility for curbing price rises, especially after huge pandemic

    Comments 0 Comment

    Time for businesses to take responsibility for helping overcome current inflation crisis. Chancellor is right to expect businesses to play their part in curbing price rises and margin expansion. After the massive amounts spent supporting businesses through Covid, there should be a recognition of their duty to society as economy looks for new normal. Corporate Social Responsibility should include behaving responsibly during current economic emergency which was partly caused by post-pandemic readjustments. The Chancellor has been speaking to businesses, urging…

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    Bank of England needs to revise its thinking

    Bank of England needs to revise its thinking

    Comments 0 Comment

    Bank of England needs to extend emergency gilt buying programme and suspend QT for now.  Pension funds and LDI are not the sole cause of the gilts crisis and should not be blamed.  Monetary policy and fiscal policy errors compounded pressures from actuarial advisors and Pensions Regulator.  To restore confidence, Bank of England is likely to have to extend emergency gilt market support.  Given the role of QE in undermining gilt market stability, Bank of England should announce it is…

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    Bank of England measures and Government policy management

    Bank of England measures and Government policy management

    Comments 2 comments

    QT Tantrum – Bank of England u-turn to buy gilts shows its aim of £80billion gilt sales is unrealistic and likely to be far worse than 2013 US taper tantrum. Bank of England had to step in as UK pension fund margin calls – on top of international investor selling – meant there were no buyers. The QE experiment has left a dangerous legacy across the Western world, but the UK has suffered most due to collapsing international confidence about…

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    Bank of England must put QE on pause tomorrow

    Bank of England must put QE on pause tomorrow

    Comments 0 Comment

    As Covid pandemic wanes, Bank of England’s emergency policies should be paused.  Money-tree policy has no clear end, but is inflating asset bubbles which may spill over into price inflation.  Global central banks are not even clear that QE is needed as inflation is picking up. QE is still a monetary experiment: When central banks introduced the money-printing idea of ‘quantitative easing’, in the teeth of the financial crisis, the policy was designed to stave off a 1930s-style deflation and…

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    Budget Comment

    Budget Comment

    Comments 1 comment

    Freezing the Pensions Lifetime Allowance will hit younger pension savers while older and wealthiest will already have protection at higher levels. Constant changes in rules and limits undermines long-term retirement planning. Chancellor should consider root and branch review of all the allowances to ensure a sustainable and stable system. This review should include identifying ways of incorporating provision for social care into long-term savings and pensions. Damage to confidence in long-term retirement planning: I recognise that the Chancellor has a…

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    Pensions can rebuild Britain – here’s my six-point plan for the Chancellor

    Pensions can rebuild Britain – here’s my six-point plan for the Chancellor

    Comments 0 Comment

    Chancellor has golden opportunity to use pensions to help boost growth. My six-point plan to use private and local authority pensions to build back Britain at lower cost to taxpayers. The UK has a tremendous advantage over other countries because we have always had a strong private pensions sector, with over £2trillion in assets set aside for future pensions. As we build back after the latest economic shock, pensions could and should be a powerful part of our economic recovery….

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    Chancellor’s Statement comment

    Chancellor’s Statement comment

    Comments 2 comments

    Chancellor rightly focuses on jobs and increasing infrastructure spending to boost growth. Great to see Lifetime Skills Guarantee and Restart programmes to help for older unemployed workers – as state pension age rises.   Green projects and social housing should use UK pension assets instead of more borrowing.   The Autumn Statement sets out the depth of the economic emergency we are facing and the Chancellor is right to ensure that we focus on preserving and creating jobs, increasing infrastructure, improving environmental…

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