It is a voting committee of the Bank of England which meets eight times a year for three and half days to decide the official base rate of the Bank of England in the United Kingdom. The monetary policy committee is also accountable for leading other phases of government economic policy charter such as forward guidance and quantitative easing. The committee is comprised of a total of nine members including the governor of the Bank of England.
The main concern of the monetary policy committee is to keep the consumer price index measure of inflation close to the target set by the government (2% per year as of 2019). Its secondary concern is to support employment and growth.
The monetary policy committee was formed on 6th May 1997, just five days after the General Election. It was given official operational responsibility for setting interest rate of the Bank of England. The committee was formed to be free of political intervention to add trustworthiness to the interest rate decision.
The monetary policy committee is comprised of total nine members including the governor of the Bank of England, the chief economist, three deputy governor for financial stability, monetary policy and markets and banking, and four outside members selected by the Chancellor of the Exchequer for a three-year term. Each member has the right of one vote. The governor of the Bank of England heads the meeting and is the last to cast a vote, which act as releasing a voice in a result of a tie. A representative from the Treasury Select Committee may join the meeting but only as non-voting viewers.
The members of monetary policy committee meet eight times a year for just three and a half-day, typically on Thursday, Monday and Wednesday. On the first day of the meeting, committee members discuss data relating to the United Kingdom economy and worldwide economy presented by regional representatives and banks economists.
On the second day of the meeting, committee members discuss monetary policy and describe their particular views and debate the right way of action. The governor of the Bank of England selects the approach most likely to facilitate a majority. On day 3rd vote is taken from each member. The decision of the monetary policy committee is publicized at noon the day after the meeting has finished.