Monetary and Fiscal Achievements of Bank of England since Independence in 1997

Essay from the year 2019 in the subject Business economics - Economic Policy, grade: 90.00, , language: English, abstract: The Bank of England gained operational independence in 1997 (Taaffe, 2017). It functions as the central bank for the United Kingdom. The bank started operations in 1694 as a private institution with the power to raise money for the government through the issuance of bonds. It then accepted deposits like other commercial banks. BoE was first issued with the monopoly of issuing banknotes in England and Wales in 1844. It was then nationalized in 1946 after World War II. In 1997, the functions of monetary policy were relinquished by the government to BoE (King, 2017). Like any other central bank, it has wide range of responsibilities. Since its independence, the bank functions as the lender of the last resort, the United Kingdom’s bank, issue currencies, and formulate monetary policy. It also makes policies during periods of economic downturns and increased uncertainty.