Liquidity support from the Bank of England: the Discount Window Facility - speech by Paul Fisher

Paul Fisher starts by outlining the principles underpinning the provision of liquidity insurance to the banking system. He notes that the Bank will only lend to commercial banks that are, in its judgment, solvent and viable for two policy related reasons. First, the need for a central bank to guard against moral hazard and, second, the imperative of protecting the central bank balance sheet (and hence public money) against the risk of loss.

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