Asset Purchase Facility: Gilt Sales Amendment – Market Notice 8 January 2026

Market Notice 

The Bank set out the schedule for sales in Q1 2026 of gilts held in the APF for monetary policy purposes in the 19 December 2025 Market Notice. Following the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the Spring forecast will be held on Tuesday 3 March 2026, and the subsequent update to the gilt operations calendar by the UK Debt Management Office (DMO), the Bank has rescheduled the following auctions:

• The short maturity auction previously scheduled for 16 March will now be held on 23 February
• The medium maturity auction previously scheduled for 9 March will now be held on 16 March

The schedule for Q1 is otherwise unchanged, as set out in Table 1 below. 

As set out in the exchange of letters between the Governor and the Chancellor in February 2022, the Bank liaises closely with the DMO to ensure that our operations minimise interference with the DMO’s own issuance programme.  

Other than as amended in this Market Notice, the detailed operational parameters and participation requirements set out previously will apply to these gilt sales.

As set out in the 19 December 2025 Market Notice, the Bank will continue to monitor the impact of its gilt sales programme on market conditions, and reserves the right to amend its schedule, including the gilts to be sold and the size of its auctions, or any other aspect of its approach at its sole discretion. 

The Bank expects to announce the sales schedule for Q2 2026 at 4.30pm on 20 March 2026.

Table 1: APF gilt sales auction calendar – January to March 2026

The table below indicates the number of auctions that the Bank expects to hold in each of the following quarters over the next nine months. The number and size of auctions needed to meet the MPC’s target in future quarters may change, depending on the movement in gilt prices and the realised distribution of sales throughout the year, and therefore the numbers below should be understood as strictly indicative. 

Table 2: Indicative number of auctions for future quarters