MPs brand QE as 'expensive experiment'

A group of MPs has criticised government attempts to stimulate the economy, including quantitative easing, for being "expensive experiments".

The Public Accounts Committee said the Treasury could not say what the effect of the Bank of England's £375bn quantitative easing programme had been, the BBC reports. It also criticised the "failure" of the government's flagship lending scheme. After examining the Treasury department's annual report and accounts for 2011-12, the cross-party committee said the Treasury had "limited understanding" of its role in the Bank of England's QE programme and it was not aware of the risks and benefits of the scheme. Committee chair Margaret Hodge said: "Some £375bn has so far been injected into ...