Asset Purchase Facility: Gilt Sales – Market Notice 24 March 2023
Market notice
This Market Notice sets out the schedule for
sales in Q2 2023 of gilts held in the Asset Purchase Facility for
monetary policy purposes. The Bank intends to sell a total of £3. 08bn
in each of the short, medium and long maturity sectors during Q2,
spread across four auctions in each sector. Auctions will commence on
3 April for short maturity gilts, 17 April for medium maturity gilts
and 4 May for long maturity gilts.
The Bank set out in the
consolidated APF gilt sales Market Notice published on 1 September
2022 that it would publish a quarterly schedule for the sales of gilts
held in the Asset Purchase Facility (APF) for monetary policy
purposes. The details and schedule for the Q2 2023 sales of such gilts
are set out in this Market Notice which covers the period from 3 April
2023 to the week commencing 26 June 2023.
In Q2 2023, the
Bank will continue to sell gilts evenly across short, medium and long
maturity buckets. These sectors are defined as gilts with a residual
maturity of between: 3-7 years (short), 7-20 years (medium); and over
20 years (long).
During Q2 2023, the Bank intends to hold
four gilt sale auctions in each of these three sectors, with a planned
size of £770mn per auction. The dates of the individual auctions are
specified in the table below. Auctions will commence on 3 April for
short maturity gilts, 17 April for medium maturity gilts and 4 May for
long maturity gilts.
In the consolidated APF gilt sales
Market Notice published on 1 September 2022 the Bank noted that it
expected to hold an auction in each maturity bucket once per
fortnight. Due to the number of operating days available in Q2 2023
our approach will be to operate one APF gilt auction per week in most
weeks. This means that an auction will typically be held in each
maturity bucket at least every four weeks.
Other than as
amended in this Market Notice, the detailed operational parameters and
participation requirements set out previously will apply to these gilt
sales.
The Bank will continue to monitor the impact of its
gilt sales programme on market conditions, and reserves the right to
amend its schedule, including the gilts to be sold and the size of its
auctions, or any other aspect of its approach at its sole discretion.
The Bank expects to announce the sales schedule for Q3 2023 at
4. 30pm on 23 June 2023. Table: APF gilt sales auction calendar –
April to June 2023 Auction date Maturity sector Monday 3 April Short
Monday 17 April Medium Monday 24 April Short Thursday 4 May Long
Monday 15 May Medium Monday 22 May Short Thursday 1 June Long Monday 5
June Medium Monday 12 June Long Thursday 15 June Short Monday 19 June
Medium Monday 26 June Long