BoE plays tough cop in UK economy role switch

Debt plan: City workers walking past the BoE building in London. The £440bil (RM2.41 trillion) of BoE bond buying between March 2020 and December 2021 was enough to offset about 94% of the increase in the UK’s net borrowing requirement over the period. — Reuters

LONDON: Like they did after the 2008 crash, the United Kingdom’s two economic policy heavyweights are playing good cop-bad cop. It’s just that this time they’ve swapped roles.

In the years following the financial crisis, the Bank of England (BoE) stuck resolutely to easy money while fiscal policy got tough when Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne imposed swingeing budget cuts.