QE ‘may well be increased soon’

The Bank of England may soon opt to increase the level of quantitative easing (QE) in the economy to combat the recession, an economist has claimed.

Chief economist at Santander Barry Naisbitt said that while yesterday's meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) saw no change to the QE level, the minutes may be revealing.

He commented: "Since one MPC member voted for more quantitative easing last month, there will be interest in the minutes of today's meeting to see if he was joined by any other members of the committee this month."

In the meantime, the decision may leave many concerned that the economy is lacking the fresh impetus that might help it escape recession, meaning employment could soon start falling.

Job losses can be a major cause of personal debt as people losing an income they use to service their borrowing may suddenly find they are unable to do so.

Debt management plans may be useful in easing the strain on people in such situations.

The MPC decision was the first made after the Office for National Statistics revised the fall in gross domestic product in the first quarter from 0.2 per cent to 0.3 per cent.

Posted by Paul Thacker