Marcus Ashworth, Columnist

How the BOE Could Get Away With Ending the Pension Rescue

The central bank may just have luck on its side. Still, the law of unintended consequences applies.

October 14, 2022 at 4:00 AM UTC

Marcus Ashworth is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering European markets. Previously, he was chief markets strategist for Haitong Securities in London.

Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England
Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg

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Fans of the UK political comedy "Yes, Minister" are aware what "courageous" implies when it involves official policy decisions. Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey’s remarks in Washington on Tuesday, when he warned pension funds that they had three days left to take advantage of the BOE’s £65 billion ($72 billion) gilt buyback rescue net, certainly will go down as one of the "bravest" central banker statements in history.

Yet Bailey may be vindicated, or at least he has a fighting chance to get lucky. Especially if Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng tightens his fiscal plans. Let me make the case for the defense.