Bank of England repo demand climbs to record 21 billion pounds

LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) – British banks received a record 21.347 billion pounds ($27.01 billion) in funds from the Bank of England at its weekly short-term repo on Thursday, marking the 11th time in the past 14 repos that usage has set a fresh record high.

Usage of the repo, which allows banks to temporarily borrow cash from the BoE in exchange for government bonds they hold, has climbed steadily since March.

The repo was launched in October 2022 by the BoE to ensure overnight interbank lending rates stay close to its official Bank Rate while it drains cash from the financial system through its quantitative tightening bond sales.