BoE definition

The BoE is a popular shortening of the Bank of England, the central bank of the United Kingdom.

Like other major central banks such as the Federal Reserve (the ‘Fed’) or the European Central Bank (ECB), the BoE is referred to often enough to have gained an acronym. That is because of its importance in governing monetary policy, via the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). It also has a Financial Policy Committee (FPC), instated to oversee Britain’s banks after the 2008 crash.

Established in 1694, the BoE is the world’s second-oldest central bank, after Sweden’s central bank, the Sveriges Riksbank.

The BoE’s policies for maintaining monetary policy after 2008 led to a record run of low base rates in the UK. Financial traders often pay significant attention to pronouncements from the MCP about base rates, as they will play out across financial markets in a big way. The MPC has also played a major role in the BOE’s quantitative easing (QE) policy.