The Bank of England has published a market notice detailing the next phase of its gilt sales programme, which will see the central bank sell approximately £8 billion of government bonds between July and September 2026 as it continues to reduce the size of its balance sheet.
The notice provides operational details of the sales, including the maturity buckets that will be offered, the auction calendar, and the minimum and maximum quantities that will be sold in each auction. The Bank said the programme had been designed to minimise disruption to the gilt market and to maintain orderly trading conditions.
The sales are part of the Bank's quantitative tightening programme, which aims to reduce the stock of government bonds held by the central bank to a level that is consistent with the efficient implementation of monetary policy. The Bank has said it intends to reduce its gilt holdings to approximately £350-400 billion, compared with a peak of approximately £875 billion.
The programme has proceeded more slowly than the Bank initially intended, reflecting the sensitivity of the gilt market to changes in supply and demand. The Bank has repeatedly adjusted the pace and composition of its sales in response to market conditions, and it has made clear that the programme could be paused or reversed if financial stability were threatened.
The market notice confirms that the Bank intends to continue its current pace of sales, which has been calibrated to reduce the stock of gilts by approximately £100 billion per year. At that pace, the programme would be completed by approximately 2029, though the Bank has stressed that the endpoint is conditional on economic and market developments.
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