Bank of England begins selling government bonds

Central bank in bid to reduce its emergency stimulus to the economy and fend off claims it has lost its independence

The Bank of England has begun to shrink its 838bn stockpile of government bonds in a bid to reduce the central bank's emergency stimulus to the economy and fend off claims that it has lost its independence by directly financing government borrowing.

Ahead of a meeting on Thursday when the Bank is expected to raise its base rate by as much as one percentage point to 3.25%, officials offloaded 750m of government bonds, known as gilts, to commercial banks and insurers as part of a plan to sell 80bn by the end of next year.