Date: 23 October 2020
Disclosure:
When the Bank of England (the ‘Bank’) was founded in 1694 it lent £1.2 million to the government. Over the next 140 years the debt increased and decreased until in 1834 the amount outstanding was £11,015,100. The interest on the first loan in 1694 was 8%. This interest rate varied over the years, but at the time of nationalisation the interest rate was 2½%, this having been fixed under the Bank Act of 1892. When the Bank was nationalised in 1946 the outstanding balance was still £11,015,100.
The sum of £11,015,100 remained on the Bank’s books until July 1994 when the full amount was repaid by the government to coincide with the Bank’s tercentenary