Figure 1: Customer account ledger from 1878, from the former Bank of England Cashier’s Department Drawing Office, now held in the Bank of England’s Archive collection. References Bank of England (1989), ‘Challenges facing the sterling wholesale payment systems’, Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, August, pages 401–06. Bank of England (1994), ‘The development of a UK real-time gross settlement system’. Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, May, pages 163–68. BIS central bankers’ speeches  7  Davey, N and Gray, D (2014), ‘How has the Liquidity Saving Mechanism reduced banks’ intraday liquidity costs in CHAPS?’ Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 54, No. 2, pages 180–186, 2014 Q2, available at http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/ quarterlybulletin/2014/qb14q207.pdf. Dent, A and Dison, W (2012), ‘The Bank of England’s Real-Time Gross Settlement infrastructure’, Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 52 No. 3, pages 234–244, 2012 Q3, available at http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/quarterlybulletin/qb 1203.pdf. Matthews, P (1921), ‘The Bankers’ Clearing House: what it is and what it does’, Sir I. Pitman & Sons limited. Norman, B, Shaw, R and Speight, G (2011), ‘The history of interbank settlement arrangements: exploring central banks’ role in the payment system’, Bank of England Working Paper No. 412. 8  BIS central bankers’ speeches
Energy price inflation will also be considerable lower ahead. In August, the enterprises in Norges Bank’s regional network noted that there had been a shift in sentiment in the Norwegian economy. An extra round of calls to some contacts in October indicated that the outlook had worsened since August. The latest reports from enterprises in Region East indicate that demand has declined since summer, with a further drop in September and October. Customers are responding to tighter lending conditions by postponing projects. The changes have occurred rapidly, and there is now considerable uncertainty among our contacts in this region with regard to developments over the next six months. The majority of the enterprises report that they will reduce investment. Many are considering workforce reductions as an alternative if the situation does not change in the New Year. The majority also envisage lower wage and price inflation ahead. In the past year, unemployment has been as low as in the mid-1980s. Seasonally adjusted registered unemployment was 1.8 per cent in October. The enterprises in Norges Bank’s regional network are expecting some reduction in the workforce ahead. There has been a slight increase in layoffs. Going forward, enterprises will probably adjust the workforce to lower output growth and reduce the use of overtime. After a long period of high housing investment and rising prices, activity in the housing market is now slowing. Tighter credit conditions are amplifying the fall in house prices.