Subject: Bank of England's inflation target
Date: 14 January 2008
Text of request:
Release of documentation surrounding and advising on the decision to switch the Bank of England's inflation target from RPIX to CPI, previously known as HICP
Text for disclosure:
In addition to the information released the Treasury noted the information that was already publicly available on this matter, and withheld other information.
On balance, and taking account of all the factors identified, the review considered that the public interest arguments against disclosure outweighed those in favour of disclosure in relation to the application of the exemptions in section 35(1)(a) and section 29(1)(a) of the Act. It also noted that some of the information in scope would in the hands of the Bank of England, be held as part of its functions with respect to monetary policy and as a result completely excluded from the Act (under schedule 1, part VI). Thus whilst the Treasury must consider the public interest in disclosure, the fact that monetary policy information of this type is excluded from the operation of the FOI Act if held by the Bank further reflected the sensitivity of this information and the potential harm from release.
- Extracts from paper on impact of HICP announcements (PDF file, 40KB)
- Why HICP is the right target (PDF file, 30KB)