Bank of England asset purchase ceiling cut to £482.4 billion

The Chancellor and the Bank of England Governor cut the Asset Purchase Facility's authorised maximum to £482.4 billion from £524.9 billion, matching the stock of gilts held on November 4.

Why it matters: The six monthly ceiling cuts track a quantitative tightening stock down 46 percent from its peak, and officials are now working on a model under which all active gilt sales go to the government rather than to the market.

Data as of Exchange of letters between the Chancellor and the Governor dated November 10, 2026, published by HM Treasury and the Bank of England and read in full in this run; gilt holdings are as of November 4, 2026. Developing item.

The maximum authorised size of the Bank of England’s Asset Purchase Facility was reduced to £482.4 billion from £524.9 billion, in an exchange of letters between Chancellor John Healey and Governor Andrew Bailey published on Tuesday. The new ceiling matches the APF’s stock of gilt holdings as of November 4, 2026, of which £362.4 billion is authorised for monetary policy purposes and £120 billion to indirectly back banknote issuance.

The stock is down £412.5 billion, or 46 percent, from its peak of £894.9 billion in January 2022. The letters record the Monetary Policy Committee’s plan to unwind the monetary policy holdings through an annual sales pace of £20 billion in purchase proceeds terms until they are fully unwound by the end of 2034, with no sales of gilts redeeming before 2035, and note that Bank and Treasury officials are developing a model under which all active gilt sales are conducted to the government and not to the market, for review before April 2027.

Bank of England asset purchase ceiling cut to £482.4 billion

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