BoE posts £5.5bn loss on QE book

The Bank of England has made a £5.5bn full-year loss on the assets bought under its quantitative easing (QE) programme to prop up the battered UK economy.

It bought £200bn of gilts, corporate bonds and commercial paper between February 2009 and February 2010 to inject further monetary stimulus after slashing rates to 0.5pc, the Telegraph reports. However, its first annual report revealed the portfolio value has shrunk by £5.5bn. Gilts accounted for the entire fall, with the £198.3bn book valued at £192.8bn on February 28. After the £3.8bn of interest paid on the bonds, the nominal loss to the taxpayer is £1.75bn. But since February, gilt values have improved due to the Chancellor's Budget actions and analysts say the fund is now like...