But not for Christmas! From the Asset Purchase Facility’s market notice for the BoE’s £75bn of further quantitative easing:
Asset Purchase Facility: Gilt Purchases
1. The MPC has decided on a further £75bn of gilt purchases as part of its programme of asset purchases financed by central bank reserves. Asset Purchase Facility (APF) gilt purchase operations will therefore resume in the week beginning 10 October 2011.
2. The range of gilts eligible for purchase will remain unchanged.
3. The Bank will, normally, conduct three auctions a week: gilts with a residual maturity of 3-10 years will be purchased on Mondays; of over 25 years on Tuesdays; and of 10-25 years on Wednesdays.
4. The Bank intends to purchase evenly across the three gilt maturity sectors. The size of auctions will initially be £1.7bn for each maturity sector.
5. The Bank will confirm details of the following week’s operations each Thursday at 16.00.
The Bank does not currently intend to purchase gilts where the Bank holds more than 70% of the “free float”, i.e. the total amount in issue minus government holdings. The Bank will, however, continue to keep the identity of gilts eligible for purchase in the APF under review.
6. The MPC expects the announced programme of asset purchases to take four months to complete. The scale of the programme will be kept under review. The Bank does not intend to hold gilt-purchase operations during the weeks beginning 19 or 26 December 2011.
7. Other than as amended by this Market Notice, previous Market Notices relating to the Bank’s gilt purchases under the APF will apply.