Great question —

This is about the Bank of England’s Quantitative Tightening (QT) strategy.

As the BOE refuses once again to reduce interest rates, despite all the financial indications (slowing economy, less jobs being created etc), it now decides to sell its Gilts,  

The BoE has two main ways to shrink its balance sheet after years of quantitative easing (QE):

Passive roll-off – just letting the gilts mature and not reinvesting the proceeds.

Active sales – deliberately selling gilts back into the market before maturity.

They chose to combine both, and here’s why they’ve been actively selling rather than relying only on maturities:

1. Speed and Predictability

UK gilts bought under QE have a wide range of maturities (some very long-dated).

If the BoE only waited for bonds to mature, the process of shrinking the balance sheet would take decades, and the pace would be very lumpy.

Active sales allow them to set a more even, predictable pace of QT and manage the size of the balance sheet faster.

2. Restoring Policy Space

QE massively expanded the BoE’s balance sheet.

Shrinking it sooner gives the Bank more room to re-expand in future crises without running into operational or political limits.

In other words, selling now “reloads the ammunition.”

3. Market Functioning

The BoE wants to encourage a healthy gilt market with private investors setting prices, rather than the Bank dominating supply/demand.

Gradual sales help re-establish normal market functioning after years of QE.

4. Interest Rate Signalling

Relying purely on roll-off might have looked like the BoE was being overly cautious or hesitant.

Active sales signal that policy is genuinely tightening, reinforcing the stance of higher interest rates.

5. Fiscal/Cost Considerations

QE exposed the BoE (and ultimately the Treasury) to interest rate risk: it holds long-term fixed-rate gilts but pays Bank Rate on reserves to commercial banks.

When Bank Rate rose sharply, the BoE started making losses.

Active sales (especially when markets are stable) help reduce this risk exposure over time, even though near-term sales crystallise accounting losses.

✅ In short: They’re selling rather than just waiting for bonds to mature because it’s faster, more predictable, helps restore policy flexibility, supports market functioning, and strengthens the message of monetary tightening.