The auction stopped; the pace stayed on paper
Bank of England wrote in the 17 September 2026 market notice that Asset Purchase Facility gilt auctions pause. The stated reason is a review of a model in which HM Treasury would instruct the Debt Management Office, DMO, to buy the 146 billion pounds of 2035-2049 stock at market prices. The 222 billion pounds maturing before 2035 stays until maturity; 120 billion pounds remains the banknote backstop.[2]
The Monetary Policy Committee at the same meeting chose, unanimously, a path whose stated stock at the end of 2034 is zero, through annual sales of 20 billion pounds alongside maturities, at 46 billion pounds a year on average. The market notice places operational details in April 2027 regardless of method and records the agreed 20 billion pound sales pace as the implementation rule.[2], [1]
The rate vote was 6-3; the paper priced the supply door
Bank Rate stayed at 3.75 per cent. Six members held, three wanted 4 per cent. The minutes put August CPI at 3.1 per cent. Services inflation was 3.4 per cent in August, unchanged from July.[1]
A 17 September 2026 Instant View said UK government bond prices rallied after the announcement, yields fell, and the pound was down 0.1 per cent on the day at 1.3362 dollars. Investors may have priced the closed auction, the rate hold, or both. The wrap does not print volume.[3]
The April 2027 operations date
The level is technical; the reason is economic. Here the level is whether the APF auction is open; the reason is who takes the 20 billion pound pace. The marginal buyer may be the market, the DMO, or an HM Treasury instruction written into the April 2027 financing remit. While auctions stay shut, near-term supply through that door is narrower; while the pace stays on the Monetary Policy Committee books, the stated stock at the end of 2034 is still zero. A long-horizon holder asks whose book the paper lands on.[2]