Charlie Bean, Deputy Governor of the BOE, explained in August 2013 that the release of the guidance was to clarify the MPC’s existing monetary policy stance rather than to provide additional monetary accommodation.7 By reducing uncertainty, it aimed at lowering term premiums and preventing upward movements in market interest rates.
Regarding the second difference, forward guidance is applied to the policy interest rate in the case of the Federal Reserve and the ECB. The BOE appears to apply forward guidance mainly to the policy interest rate. However, it is also linked to the possibility of further asset purchases as well as maintaining the stock of past asset purchases.