Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what amount of interest has been paid to commercial banks on central bank reserves in each of the last ten years; and whether they have considered ending such payments.

Data on the interest paid on central bank reserves backed by bonds held in the Asset Purchase Facility is made publicly available by the Office for National Statistics in its monthly Public Sector Finances publication.

These data refer to reserves backed only by bonds held in the Asset Purchase Facility. While data on total interest paid is not available, the Bank of England does publish the aggregate level of outstanding reserves and the Bank Rate.

Paying interest on reserves is an important part of the transmission of monetary policy to the real economy and there are no plans to change the way reserves are remunerated at the Bank of England.