“The UK’s big four lenders will be able to reduce their cash and cash-like assets by 20pc under the recommendation, made by the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC). The excess ‘liquidity’ could then be used ‘to support lending to the real economy’, it said. The FPC estimated the impact of the rule change on the big four to be ‘around £70bn’. Interest rates have been at a record low of 0.5pc for more than four years and households have become increasingly reliant on such cheap credit. The proportion of borrowers on variable rate mortgages linked to the 0.5pc rate is close to a historical high, the Bank said.”
