An Estimate of the Impacts of the Bank of England’s Quantitative Easing Programme on UK Economic Growth

Abstract

This paper reviews the reasons for and impacts of quantitative easing by the Bank of England.  It analyses the macroeconomic impacts of this policy tool on the UK economy across the period 2008-16.  It compares the impacts of each round of quantitative easing to assess how the impacts changed over time. The authors implemented econometric analysis based on the VAR model. This analysis indicated that the Bank of England’s monetary policy influenced GDP growth by a relatively small degree during the period studied. The impact of changes in the monetary base (M3) explained a bigger part of GDP growth than the decreases in interest rates and exchange rates.  Over time the impact of this policy response diminished.