And even more for the ECB as it has negative interest rates.
People are worrying that QE will leave the UK exposed to considerable interest costs because something like £800bn is now owed as a result of QE to the UK’s commercial banks and building societies. But the interest cost of that is, right now, about £800 million a year which vastly less than the £24 bullion that the government might have budgeted to service debt of that amount, and even if interest rates rise to the level forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility over the next five years the savings will still be £20 billion a year. Whatever else QE does, it certainly saves the UK a great deal of money, which can be better used.
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