More surprises beckon

New strategy: A pedestrian passes the Bank of England in central London. The central bank is poised to hike rates early next year. — Bloomberg

LONDON: Already famed for its unpredictability, the Bank of England (BoE) could get a whole lot more inscrutable as a new tightening tool comes into play.

So-called quantitative tightening (QT) – the process of unwinding years of the BoE’s government bond buying – could kick off if the BoE hikes rates to a key level at its next meeting in February.