Financial and monetary stability with Bank of England

Another outstanding branch event on a blistering hot evening. Sheffield & District Branch were delighted to once again host guest speaker Paul Mount from the Bank of England, this time stepping through the restored Victorian Façade and into the Radisson Blu Hotel in the heart of the city.

After their short walks to the venue, members and guests fully appreciated the aircon on arrival whilst heading over to the registration desk to sign in before networking with other credit professionals over refreshments and relaxing after a busy day.

Branch Chair, Richard House, opened the meeting and welcomed everyone before handing over to Paul Mount of Bank of England. Paul introduced himself advising that he joined the Bank of England in 2019 as Deputy Agent for Yorkshire and the Humber and that since April 2026 has been the Bank’s Agent for the East Midlands and that he represents the Bank and engages with businesses and public sector leaders to understand the environment they face and to explain the policy stance and work of the Bank.

Paul took us through his presentation explaining that the Bank’s mission is to promote the good of the people of the UK by maintaining monetary and financial stability including making sure we can pay for things securely and keeping the cost of living stable. The Financial Policy Committee identifies and monitors risks to financial stability and that twice a year it publishes its Financial Stability Report, which has been published just a few days prior.

The report sets out the committee’s views and what it is doing to remove or reduce risks. The risk outlook is that the financial system remains resilient, including to the significant macroeconomic shock associated with the conflict in the Middle East, and in respect of market-based finance, multiple vulnerabilities could be triggered at the same time and some have grown, notably the use of leverage in equity markets. The report noted that rapid advances in and differing access to AI capabilities have increased cyber and operational resilience risks, but that UK households and businesses are resilient, and the banking system is strong enough to support them.  Debt to GDP ratios globally continue to trend upwards, equity valuations continue to be stretched relative to historic levels and UK households and corporate sectors have reduced their debt levels relative to UK GDP over the past 20 years.

Paul highlighted that fixed rate mortgage costs have increased since the Middle East conflict started meaning higher future repayments for many. He went on to explain how the Bank of England influences inflation, the process for setting the Bank rate and looked at how the global energy shock can affect UK CPI inflation through several channels and the typical speeds. He closed by saying that the committee stands ready to act as necessary to ensure the CPI inflation remains on track to meet the 2% target in the medium term.

Paul took questions and much lively discussion was had throughout his presentation about the ownership of Government bonds and the current valuation of AI stock in the USA to name just a few points of focus. Paul then handed the meeting back to Richard who thanked Paul for his time and presentation.

Many thanks to Paul Mount of Bank of England, Tom Davage of Sharp Consultancy, and all attending members and guests for making the evening a great success.