§ Mr. MaplesTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) for what reasons he plans to transfer responsibility for debt management from the Bank of England to the Treasury; [3262]
(2) if he will list the advantages of having the Treasury manage the Government's debt; [3237]
(3) for what reasons he plans to transfer management of the Government's cash reserves from the Bank of England to the Treasury; [3265]
(4) if he will list the advantages of the Treasury managing the Government's cash reserves. [3241]
§ Mrs. LiddellThe decision to give the Bank of England operational responsibility for setting interest rates means that it is important to separate the Government's debt and cash management from the conduct of monetary policy to avoid conflicts of interest. The separation is intended to ensure that debt and cash management decisions continue to be taken in such a way as to minimise the cost of financing the Government's borrowing needs subject to risk and are not influenced by short-term monetary policy considerations (andvice versa).
§ Mr. MaplesTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the Bank of England's performance in managing the Government's debt. [3239]
§ Mrs. LiddellUltimate policy responsibility for the Government's debt management has always rested with Treasury Ministers and policy is currently expressed in an
234Wannual gilts remit to the Bank. The Bank has offered valuable policy advice with regard to debt management and has conducted operations for the Government in the gilts market in an efficient and professional manner. The Bank has taken the lead in recent reforms to gilts market structure, notably gilt repo and preparations for gilt stripping, that have been widely praised by market participants.