Bank of England 'under pressure' to slow bond sales amid market tumult

The Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey will be closely monitoring movements in long-dated bonds

The Bank of England should slow its quantitative tightening programme and stop active sales of long-dated bonds entirely in the wake of this week’s bond rout that saw the cost of long-term borrowing soar to its highest level this century, a group of top economists has said.

Markets were rocked by a global sell-off in long-end debt on Monday and Tuesday, which saw bond yields climb sharply on fears that governments will struggle to rein in spending. Investors were further troubled by Donald Trump’s protracted assault on the Federal Reserve and political instability in France.

Long-dated gilts – the name given to UK government bonds – were swept up in the tumult . The yield on 30-year bonds jump