BoE labelled 'schizophrenic' over negative rates talk

The Bank of England's latest thoughts on introducing negative interest rates to encourage higher lending from banks are 'somewhat schizophrenic', a leading economist has said.

Much was made of Bank deputy governor Paul Tucker's comments around negative rates last week, although the concept is not new. The Bank last mentioned the possibility of negative rates - which would see the Bank 'charge' lenders for holding money on deposit in an effort to get them to lend more of it out to the wider economy - in 2009 as the country emerged from the depths of the financial crisis. Tucker conceded last week that to introduce negative rates would be an "extraordinary" thing to do, adding it needed to thought out carefully. While economists welcomed the fact the Bank ...