The Bank of England appears to have learnt from earlier mistakes

At a small breakfast of City executives this week, a theme emerged. Do we, the financial press and indeed the Square Mile establishment, sufficiently value consistency? ‘New’ news is more interesting than old, of course – you will inevitably find more in this newspaper today about firms making a pig’s ear of something or other than you will those who keep delivering solid if unspectacular profits and shareholder returns. 

We will do a better job of celebrating consistency going forward, and so we turn to the Bank of England before today’s interest rate decision. 

At the beginning of what we will term ‘the current unpleasantness’ – runaway inflation – the mixed-messaging from the Bank left the City baffled. Every word uttered by a member of the MPC was pored over for clues, and a combination of botched forecasts, rate-setting decisions which seemed to move in the direct opposite of guidance, and tin-eared statements about pay rises left many wondering whether the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street needed a lie down. 

Yet a year or more later and, to his credit, Andrew Bailey et al have gone some way to restoring the Bank’s reputation in City circles. The hyperactivity that marked the early period has given way to more deliberate, thought-through and dare we say it staid interventions. The swiftness with which the Bank’s stability arm acted during the bond market palaver has also burnished the reputation of other parts of the operation, even if they were not directly involved. 

This is of course not to say that the Bank did not mistakes, and the shocking forecasting has had a material impact on the lives of ordinary people. Many questions will be asked about how Britain got itself in such a mess last year, and the role of the Central Bank within it. But by being more consistent, staying on the straight and narrow and offering fewer surprises, the Bank’s bosses appear to have learnt their lesson – and they deserve credit for it.