Skip to content

Breaking a Peg: September 1992

What Defending Actually Costs

The Bank of England had two weapons. Post them both and you can see why neither could win.

10 min90 XP available4 challenges

Post the entries

The Bank of England buys £1bn to hold the floor. Post it.

A fund is selling sterling. To stop the rate falling through DM 2.7780, the Bank of England buys £1bn, paying with D-marks out of its foreign exchange reserves.

Entries to post

0 of 6 placed

Pick an entry, then choose whose sheet it lands on and which side. Every sheet must balance.

Bank of England

Committed to the floor

Assets

What it owns

  • Foreign exchange reserves£25B
  • Domestic assets£15B

    Liabilities

    What it owes

    • Sterling reserves of banks£12B
    • Banknotes in circulation£28B

      The Selling Fund

      On the other side of every intervention

      Assets

      What it owns

      • Sterling deposits£10B
      • D-mark deposits£2B

        Liabilities

        What it owes

        • Sterling borrowings£10B

          Answer to continue.