BoE gilts decision risks big hit for Reeves

Tough task: Reeves leaving a Cabinet meeting in London. She needs to raise as much as £35bil after higher borrowing costs and a weaker growth outlook wiped out a fiscal buffer she had earlier. — Bloomberg

London: Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves will need to find a further £4bil or about US$5.4bil to put her budget back on track if the Bank of England (BoE) decides to stop active gilt sales at a critical decision this week.

Alongside its interest-rate decision on Thursday, the central bank will announce how quickly it plans to unwind its crisis-era quantitative easing (QE) portfolio in the coming 12 months – with potentially painful consequences for Reeves ahead of her budget on Nov 26.