Monetary Policy Committee
Bank of England committee of nine that sets Bank Rate for the 2% inflation target.
On 16 September 2026 the Monetary Policy Committee voted six to three to keep Bank Rate at 3.75%, and agreed without dissent to sell down the Bank of England's monetary-policy gilts to zero by September 2034.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Three of nine MPC members wanted a hike. Will Bank Rate rise next?
Timeline for Monetary Policy Committee
Held Bank Rate at 3.75% by six votes to three
Is Britain Actually Broke?: MPC holds 3.75% and maps 2034 gilt exitMentioned in: Bank holds rate as 30% report strain
Is Britain Actually Broke?Background
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the Bank of England committee that decides Bank Rate. Its REMIT is to bring CPI inflation to the 2% target. It has nine members: the Governor, the three Deputy Governors for Monetary Policy, Financial Stability and Markets and Banking, the Chief Economist, and four external members appointed directly by the Chancellor. Members serve fixed terms and do not represent any group.
The committee held Bank Rate at 3.75% on 30 July 2026 and again on 16 September 2026, the second time with six members for the hold and three voting to raise it to 4%. The Bank's summary said CPI inflation rose to 3.1% in August and is likely to rise further, and that policy is being set to return inflation to 2% sustainably as the economy adjusts to an energy shock.
The Financial Policy Committee is a separate Bank of England committee with its own REMIT and publishes its own record.
The committee schedules its gilt exit
At its 16 September meeting the MPC agreed, without dissent, a multi-year plan to reduce the stock of government bonds held for monetary policy to zero, ending in September 2034. After £120bn is set aside to back banknotes, the run-down averages about £46bn a year, of which £20bn comes from active sales.
The plan lands as long-dated borrowing costs climb. The 30-year gilt yield touched 6.02% on 7 October, a level last reached in 1998. On 1 October the National Institute of Economic and Social Research attributed about two-thirds of the 10-year yield's third-quarter rise to where markets expect Bank Rate to go, so the committee's rate outlook, more than its gilt sales, drove the 10-year yield in that quarter.