Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group strategist Lee Hardman said that the Bank of England's reform of its quantitative austerity framework marks a shift from an annual review to a pre-announced multi-year exit plan, and has set a “very high threshold” for future adjustments to the exit path. Hardman pointed out that the exit mechanism will only be reconsidered when bank interest rates are insufficient to meet the inflation target or when the UK treasury bond market is under severe pressure. He believes that this reform has made quantitative austerity a gradual, predictable, and basically automated process. Essentially, it has been viewed as a “back-office balance sheet operation” rather than an active policy tool. Compared to previous annual decisions that focused on the speed of downsizing, the new framework reflects a stronger commitment and a greater focus on the ultimate target state of the balance sheet.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group strategist Lee Hardman said that the Bank of England's reform of its quantitative austerity framework marks a shift from an annual review to a pre-announced multi-year exit plan, and has set a “very high threshold” for future adjustments to the exit path. Hardman pointed out that the exit mechanism will only be reconsidered when bank interest rates are insufficient to meet the inflation target or when the UK treasury bond market is under severe pressure. He believes that this reform has made quantitative austerity a gradual, predictable, and basically automated process. Essentially, it has been viewed as a “back-office balance sheet operation” rather than an active policy tool. Compared to previous annual decisions that focused on the speed of downsizing, the new framework reflects a stronger commitment and a greater focus on the ultimate target state of the balance sheet.