QE and low base rate 'penalising' retirees, say MPs

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The government's "loose" monetary policy of quantitative easing (QE) and low interest rates is diminshing retirees' income, a report by MPs concludes.

The Treasury Committee has called on the government to explore ways to help pensioners whose retirement income has been undermined by the policies. Since March 2009, some £325bn has been injected directly into the UK economy in a bid to stimulate growth. Meanwhile, the nation's interest rates are currently at 0.5% - the lowest level in the Bank of England's history. But the Treasury Committee today said QE penalised savers by redistributing money to borrowers. The BoE argues that some of those effects may be mitigated by the increase in asset prices stimulated by QE. The Comm...

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