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THE BANK OF England has stepped in with further emergency action for the second day running to head off a “fire sale” of UK government bonds amid ongoing turmoil in markets triggered by the Chancellor’s mini-budget.
The central bank warned that the sell-off in the UK government bond market poses a “material risk to UK financial stability” after yields on long-dated gilts soared once more yesterday, despite action by the Bank and Government to try to allay investor concerns.
Threadneedle Street said it will now widen the scope of its bond-buying programme to include purchases of index-linked gilts – a type of UK government bond that tracks inflation.
On Monday, it doubled its daily bond-buying limit to £10 billion, while Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng brought forward his new fiscal plan and independent economic forecasts to October 31 in an attempt to calm turbulent markets.
The Bank’s latest action helped sharply lower yields on long-dated gilts on Tuesday morning in welcome relief after 30-year government bonds yields hit 4.7% on Monday – the highest level since the Bank was forced to step in last month to avoid a mini financial market crisis.
But the pound remained under pressure, standing at 1.10 US dollars, despite the Bank’s extra measures.
The Bank said: “The beginning of this week has seen a further significant repricing of UK government debt, particularly index-linked gilts.
“Dysfunction in this market, and the prospect of self-reinforcing ‘fire sale’ dynamics pose a material risk to UK financial stability.”
It added that its latest efforts will “act as a further backstop to restore orderly market conditions”.
The move came as the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank warned that the Chancellor will have to find spending cuts of more than £60 billion if he is to meet his target to get the public finances back under control.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said the Bank’s third tranche of bond-buying action “seems rather messy and panicky”.
He said: “As expected the market was always going to retest the Bank’s resolve and put the Budget to the sword.
“To expand your emergency intervention in the market once is unfortunate, to do so twice looks like carelessness.”
Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Pat McFadden said: “That the Bank of England has been forced to step in for a second day running to reassure markets shows the Government’s approach is not working, and creates renewed pressure for the Chancellor to reverse his Budget.”
Threadneedle Street intervened with emergency action on September 28 when the mini-budget market chaos caused the pound to tumble and yields on gilts to soar, which left some pension funds across the industry close to collapse.
The market turmoil had forced pension funds to sell gilts to head off worries over their solvency.
Investment banks made calls on so-called liability driven investment (LDI) funds, which in turn called on pension funds, forcing them into a fire sale of gilts, driving prices still lower and yields higher and creating a downward spiral.
The Bank laid bare the scale of the woes last week when it said its emergency scheme helped the UK narrowly avoid a market meltdown caused by concerns over the Chancellor’s tax cut plans.
But gilt yields started to surge once more due to ongoing fears over the Government’s economic policies and worries that the October 14 deadline set by the Bank for its bond-buying scheme could see a return to pension fund woes.
In particular, index-linked gilts have picked up sharply, sparking the latest action to stabilise the market, while the Bank also signalled other bonds have come under pressure, announcing it would pause its corporate bond sales this week.
“The Bank continues to monitor developments in financial markets very closely in light of the significant asset repricing of recent weeks,” the Bank said.
Good. More competition, more choice = better savings for those who have a mortgage and those who are seeking one
@Nowa Huta: How about they open up the mortgage market so we can get mortgages from other EU countries (which offer rates around the 0.5% mark). Single market my a$$
@Brian Henoll:
What is stopping banks from other EU countries coming here?
There’s absolutely no reason why the post office should.go into high street banking while the high street owes us 60 billion. The credit union in my town tried to move into mainstreet banking (they literally moved to main street at the hight of the crises) and got caught for hundreds of thousands in loans while they were pretending to be bankers. The upshot is that you can’t get a small loan from them anymore. I repeat myself. The actual main street bankers owe us 60 billion. We need it back.
@Louis Jacob:
Many of those high street banks are struggling to stay afloat in an increasingly competitive environment, with their bloated cost base, and some with massive exposure still in UK market and uncertainties of Brexit, plus other disruptive challenges coming down the track, for example Cryptocurrency innovation.
Our State still owns large chunks of equity in some HSBs which they’re hoping to sell off ASAP and recover some of that €60 bn you refer to.
Expanding services offered by fine state-owned network of Post Offices, particularly mortgages, might offer only chance of recovery of some more over long-term.
@Rory J Leonard: My local post office is stocked with O Driscolls and Mccarthys. Very few degrees there, maybe a few arts degrees. They should not be allowed near finances. Yera if you’re into that kind of thing you might be alright. Maybe the gardi could involed. The credit union in my town got involved in some dark forces.
@Louis Jacob: I hate to harp on but if you need a grand in my town now you go to a money lender who charges you 36%. All the while the eejits who work in the credit union walk around town in designer clothes
@Louis Jacob: the credit Union is a different kettle of fish. That was, in part, a stitch up by McCreavy and co. The banking sector did not like that CU held up so much of cash floating around in a friendly society set up. (They hate, for example,that in Quebec banks are sidelined CUs, as people their won’t use banks for day to day stuff). So they began a process of dragging them into their banking world. This included changing products on offer, including mortgages and commercial loans. Also dragging them into credit bureau rules. Anything to put a partition between CU and their local base. The upshot was CU money and the now increased CU debt became part of their rotten system.
@Greg Blake: So (and I’m really not being adversarial) what is the good in dragging the PO away from their base? People depend on them for a certain service. Aso sure as shot power corrupts.
@Louis Jacob: power certainly corrupts, as we have seen in the banks
@Louis Jacob: watch the price of a stamp jump to 1.50 to shore up losses when bust hits
@Louis Jacob: watch the price of a stamp jump to 1.50 to shore up losses when bust hitsr
@Quentin Moriarty: 1.50…not quite in the same league as the bank bail out.
Can’t say I’ve any more faith in An Post management than I do in any other semi State.
Irish borrowers won’t enjoy Continental interest rates until they have Continental style “Lose your house if you don’t pay your mortgage rules”
@Goban Saor: their screwing their staff pension rights their a filthy company a complete sham I’d have nothing to do with them sher their phone network is another complete scam if your unfortunate enough to sign up for that with hidden charges.
Also I can send a parcel anywhere in Ireland with the local postal store up to a huge 30 kilos I think it is for €12 Euros and the post office would be about triple that probably even more.
The postal store I’m on about actually have the tender for delivering the An Post mail through Ireland. It just goes to show how scammy they are the top boys must be milking it good ohh. How can the Postal Store make a profit on a 12 Euro parcel anywhere in Ireland and in An Post it would be triple the price or more work than one out?
I’m gonna be honest here. My life has been destroyed ( and I mean destroyed) by creditors. It’s the the reason I can’t sleep. Remind me. What would be the benefit in this?
@Louis Jacob: Everybody is a slave when you owe money. The only thing you should borrow for is a home and no more than 15 year mortgage.
Save for things you need. Don’t buy new cars unless you have it in cash or are genuinely loaded.
Most people who have debt are in denial that they are broke. If you owe money folks you are broke.
@Louis Jacob: don’t know what benefits are in it for you Louis, or for me, I won’t be signing into any mortgages in future. But, I think more choice can only help young couples going that way. Also if it helps to keep an post alive, that’s a good thing, with all this faceless banking taking hold.
@Greg Blake: The post office is good as it is. Every time these guys try to move up they leave a vacute behind.
@Louis Jacob: The post office is good as it is. Every time these guys try to move up they leave a vacume behind.
@Niallers: you’re absolutely right, doesn’t matter what you earn, just spend less that what you earn and save some and you won’t have money worries. Most of the stuff people borrow for is stuff they should save up for instead – cars, furniture, tv’s, holidays, Christmas, we need to cop on and keep on to our hard-earned money instead of trying to keep up with the Jones.
This reads as a very naive article. So An Post is seeking a partner with whom it will enter the mortgage market and sets out its requirements of such a partner…. yet, what does An Post bring to the partnership:
1)Mortgage lending experience – Nil
2)Suitably experienced staff – unlikely
3)Suitable Business Premises – No
4)Funding capability – weak. If you had a billion would you lend it to a start up mortgage lender with no experience?!
So An Post itself is anything but an attractive mortgage lending partner.
I would point out that there are several mortgage operators open for business. It’s not easy to get a mortgage, nor should it be. Central Bank rules also constrain lenders. Based on our boom bust experienced heightened regulation is for the better.
An Post? No thank you!
@Niall: Correct. It would be a friends only service
@Louis Jacob: One article in the Journal and you both have the business model sorted?
@Niall: You must work for a bank and are afraid of the completion, maybe they might actually offer proper interest rates and you will lose customers hand over fist lol.
A sure way to know a recession is coming is when everyone wants a slice of the ponzi scheme.
You will witness the collapse of An Post who are now drunk on their profits and success .
Crazy idea
@Quentin Moriarty: Amen. You can use the credit union as proof.
@Louis Jacob: Or the banks as we have seen.
They see opportunity to make money because we are at our peak again. It’ll be hard for them to get a steady foot on a sinking ship.
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