Agenda item

Report of the Chamberlain

The Board received a report of the Chamberlain, providing a mid-year report reviewing Treasury Management in 2020/21. The Chamberlain introduced the report and drew Members’ attention to the key points, advising that recent economic events had been taken into account and the Treasury Management Strategy was still felt to be appropriate.

The Chamberlain advised that the possibility of negative interest rates had been considered as part of the review. Whilst this would impact the Corporation’s interest income, it did not necessitate a change to the Corporation’s Treasury Management Strategy, and officers were not recommending any changes to policy. The Chamberlain then advised the Board on local authority lending and controls that were in place such as a maximum lending limit, individual counterparty limits and due diligence against prospective borrowers.

In response to a question from a Member regarding the recent reduction of Public Works Loan Board rates by 1%, the Chamberlain advised that this would affect other local authorities more than the City of London Corporation, but officers would undertake to assess the possible impact and provide a response for Members. In response to a question on negative interest rates, the Chamberlain advised that officers had investigated the potential impact of zero or negative rates on day-to-day operations and concluded that there would not be a significant operational impact.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.