Subject: Discussion of independence of monetary policy
Date of disclosure: 7 March 2005
Request:
Proposals or plans that the Treasury made which looked at bank of England independence since 1988
Disclosure:
The papers being released relate to a previous administration. The Treasury press office will not therefore be able to provide additional further background briefing on the contents of the papers. However, the first of these papers was requested by the Chancellor of the Exchequer (now Lord Lawson). The following three are pieces of internal analysis conducted by Treasury officials without a formal Ministerial request in order to ensure preparedness should such a request be made.
Note: you may wish to be aware in advance of printing these files that first two are lengthy (both longer than 60 pages).
All disclosable records:
PDF file of An independent Bank of England - Autumn 1988
Examines the case for, and what would be involved, in making the Bank of England statutorily independent
PDF file of An independent Bank of England - 28 March 1991
Draws on and updates the 1988 paper, considering the case for Bank independence in the context of ERM or EMU membership.
PDF file of Independence of the Bank of England - 30 June 1992
Discusses the option of giving the Bank of England responsibility for maintaining parities within the ERM.
PDF file of Possible Arrangements for an Independent Monetary Authority - 18 January 1993
Considers the policy issues and options if the Bank of England were to be given independent con duct of monetary policy.