Major banks made a profit of more than £9bn from the Bank of England’s money-printing programme last year. Four large high street lenders were paid £9.3bn in interest on reserves parked at Threadneedle Street last year, more than double the £3.9bn they were handed in 2022. Losses suffered by the Bank of England are ultimately borne by the taxpayer. The payments are largely a legacy of quantitative easing, where the Bank pumped newly created money into the economy during the financial crisis and Covid pandemic. Threadneedle Street used this money to buy bonds, typically from high street banks, who then parked the cash in Bank of England accounts where it earns interest. Rising rates have driven up profits for the banks as a result. In correspondence with MPs on the Treasury Select Committee, NatWest revealed it was paid £2.9bn last year, Lloyds Banking Group £3.6bn, Santander £1.9bn and Barclays £1.9bn. Dame Harriett Baldwin, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, said the new figures show “the staggering scale of unanticipated income high street banks are bringing in, with no work required, as a result of increased interest rates”. When rates were low, the returns the Bank of England made from its bond investments were higher than the interest...