Bank of England Annual Report and Accounts - 2026

The Bank of England has published its annual report and accounts for 2026, providing the most detailed public account of the central bank's activities, finances and governance during a year of continued economic adjustment.

The report documents the Bank's work across its full range of responsibilities: setting interest rates to meet the inflation target, monitoring and addressing risks to financial stability, regulating banks and insurers, operating the payment systems on which the economy depends, and managing the government's debt and foreign exchange reserves.

The financial statements show that the Bank recorded a net loss of £18 billion for the year, reflecting the cost of the interest it pays on the reserves created during the quantitative easing programme. The loss is indemnified by the Treasury and does not affect the Bank's ability to conduct monetary policy, but it has political significance because it represents a transfer from the public finances to the banking system.

The report includes a candid assessment of the Bank's performance against its objectives. The Bank acknowledges that inflation was above the 2 percent target for much of the year and that its forecasts were subject to larger errors than it would wish. But it argues that the decisions it took — to raise interest rates sufficiently to bring inflation down, and to maintain them at restrictive levels until the evidence of sustained progress was clear — were necessary and ultimately successful.

The Governor's foreword describes the year as one of "continued challenge and gradual progress" and says the Bank's focus for the year ahead is on maintaining the credibility that is its most important asset.