QE exit will not cause damage to real economy, says policymaker Unwinding the Bank of England's £375bn stockpile of asset purchases is unlikely to trigger market turmoil or damage the real economy, one of its policymakers has said. David Miles, an external member of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee, said quantitative easing was most effective during times of distress, but had relatively little impact when financial markets were functioning normally. In a discussion paper released on Monday Mr Miles and co-author Jochen Schanz argued that central banks including the Bank of England and US Federal Reserve should be able to unwind the trillions of pounds built-up on their balance sheets through QE without major disruption. "If the unwinding of large-scale purchases happens when market conditions are more normal they may have relatively little impact on asset prices and the real economy," the study said. Mark Carney, the Bank's governor, has previously said policymakers would be likely to implement interest rate rises "for some time" before considering the sale of its asset purchases, amid fears of market turmoil.