Sir Michael Bunbury calls for central banks to buy equities

Also calling for helicopter money

Policymakers should step into the equity market and buy stocks, as Hong Kong did in 1998, to shore up equity markets after recent precipitous falls, according to Sir Michael Bunbury.

Central banks began this week with co-ordinated policy action to protect economies, with UK's Chancellor Rishi Sunak promising a £330bn rescue package for companies and transport secretary Grant Shapps floating the idea of temporary nationalisation of airlines, rail firms and bus companies. Across the pond, the US Federal Reserve has announced a swathe of interventions to ensure liquidity continues in markets. But Bunbury, who chairs a number of investment trusts, said he had been disappointed no central bank has yet entered the stockmarket, as Hong Kong did at the depths of the Asian...