In the centenary year of the Bills of Exchange Act, this article describes the Bank's longstanding use of bill purchases in its money market operations. Historically the Bank bought bank bills because they were among the best available assets. Their importance as a vehicle for money-market operations was reaffirmed when new arrangements for monetary control were introduced last year. Pursuit of monetary policy objectives has led the Bank to increase very substantially its portfolio of bills over the last two years, and steps have been taken to reverse this trend.
Bills of exchange - current issues in a historical perspective - Paper presented by Mr A L Coleby