Interest Rates (Bank of England)

HC Deb 02 June 1997 vol 295 c92W

Mr. Ben Chapman

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what will be the role of the Bank of England's agents in the setting of interest rates. [1122]

Mrs. Liddell

Interest rate decisions will be made by a Monetary Policy Committee, on the basis of a majority vote. The MPC will require regional and sectoral information for the purposes of monetary policy formation, including reports from the Bank's agents. The non-Executive Members of the Court will review the performance of the MPC, with particular regard to whether the Bank is collecting proper regional and sectoral information.