Jon Cunliffe: The Bank of England’s Monetary and Financial Policy Committees – guiding the economy towards a sustainable and safe recovery Speech by Sir Jon Cunliffe, Deputy Governor for Financial Stability of the Bank of England, at the International Festival for Business conference, Liverpool, 3 July 2014. *  *  *  When my friends and relations discovered I was going to join the Bank of England I was inundated with the same request. From politicians and senior Whitehall mandarins to family and young children, after wishing me congratulations and good luck, the first question was: “can I please come and see the Bank’s gold?” I of course promised excursions to see the Bank’s gold to all and sundry. On arrival at the Bank, however, I was made aware of the sober reality. The Bank only owns two bars of gold. And they are in the Bank Museum for all to see. Of course, the Bank looks after a great deal of other people’s gold – over 5000 tonnes including the UK Government’s reserves and some of the reserves of other countries. Visits to the vaults in which it lies – as I also found out on arrival – are politely but very heavily discouraged. But apart from the two bars in the museum, the Bank of England itself no longer owns any gold. I am pretty sure that most of those who wanted to see the Bank’s gold would not really be surprised by that.
Developments towards the end of last year were marked by lower demand for oil. In December, the OPEC countries together with Russia, Mexico and Norway decided to limit oil production. This may have contributed to increasing the oil price during the last months. The risk of war in the Middle East and the decline in commercial oil stocks in the US may also have contributed to increasing the oil price. Oil prices plunged by around 40 per cent between autumn 2000 and the end of 2001. Developments towards the end of last year were marked by lower demand for oil. In December, the OPEC countries together with Russia, Mexico and Norway decided to limit oil production. This may have contributed to increasing the oil price during the last months. The risk of war in the Middle East and the decline in commercial oil stocks in the US may also have contributed to increasing the oil price. BIS Review 20/2002  1  2  BIS Review 20/2002  The global slowdown started to have ripple effects on the Norwegian economy during autumn and winter. Prices for important Norwegian export products fell, and markets for many export industries have weakened. Salmon prices dropped by close to 20 per cent in 2001, after reaching record levels the previous year. The trade policy in the EU stipulates a minimum price for salmon exports, to the benefit of ineffective and high cost producers. The volume of traditional exports fell in autumn last year.