BANK OF ENGLAND

This is the name of Britain’s central bank tasked with several key responsibilities.

One is fiscal policy – setting the level of interest rates and also the amount of any additional monetary stimulus such as quantitative easing (QE) needed to hit its targets in relation to interest rates and the overall level of economic growth. The bank also has some regulatory responsibilities for banks and insurers. The central bank is also the lender of last resort should the banking system threaten to fail.