The Bank's commitment to the idea of transparency is another way in which our monetary policy has evolved. There was a time when central bankers kept their actions and thoughts shrouded in secrecy, convinced that their policy would be more effective if implemented with an element of surprise. Times have changed, and best practices in monetary policy have evolved.
We have found that monetary policy is more effective when people understand what we are doing and why. That's why we communicate regularly with parliamentarians, with markets, and with the public. We do this through our regular Monetary Policy Reports and Updates to those reports. We do this through press releases on fixed announcement dates for interest rate decisions, eight times a year.