Bank of England Sees Faster Economic Rebound, Slows Its Bond Buying

• The Bank of England said Britain's economy would grow by the most since World War Two this year and slowed the pace of its trillion-dollar bond-purchasing program, but stressed it was not reversing its stimulus.
• Governor Andrew Bailey welcomed the prospect of a stronger recovery than previously forecast as the country races ahead with its coronavirus vaccinations, with much lower unemployment. But he also said there was still a big gap compared with how big the economy would have been without the pandemic.
• The BoE raised its forecast for British economic growth in 2021 to 7.25% from February's estimate of 5.0%. That would be the fastest annual growth since 1941 when Britain was rearming. But it comes after output plunged by 9.8% in 2020, the biggest drop in more than 300 years.
• With the economy on course for recovery, the BoE said it would reduce the number of bonds it buys each week to 3.4 billion pounds ($4.7 billion), down from 4.4 billion pounds now. "This operational decision should not be interpreted as a change in the stance of monetary policy,"

(Source: Reuters)