The Bank of England (BOE)
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom. The bank gained operational independence in May 1997. However, the government still retains limited influence as it decides what is an acceptable level of price inflation and retains an emergency right to fix rates.

In 1999 the bank lost its supervisory function over the banking sector with the creation of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), while retaining the function of determining and implementing monetary policy.

The bank's main policy making body is the Monetary Policy Committee, responsible for formulating monetary policy. Its members are:

Governor	Mervyn Allister King
Deputy Governor	Andrew Large
	Rachel Lornax
Exec. Directors	Charles Bean
	Paul Tucker
External members	Kate Barker
	Marian Bell
	Richard Lambert
	Prof. Steve Nickell

Monetary and Foreign Exchange Policy
UK monetary policy is set by the MPC according to governments long-term inflation target. Currently this target is set at 2.5% as measured by the Retail Price Index excluding mortgage payments (RPIX) sometimes referred to as core inflation.

The MPC meets on a monthly basis. Meetings take place on the first Wednesday of each month and lasts for 2 days. In preparing for the inflation report and deciding on interest rates, the Bank and MPC looks at a range of domestic and international economic and monetary factor.

Once the MPC decides on the interests rate, as part of the Bank's commitment to openness, the outcome is announced at 1200 GMT on the second day of the meeting (Thursday) and the minutes of the meetings, including a record of any vote, is normally published six weeks after each meeting.