Bank of England inflates IT budget to £100m
Official figures disclose that the Bank of England (BoE) has escalated its IT budget to almost £100 million.
Information acquired by the Parliament Street think tank through Freedom of Information (FOI) requests indicated that the BoE allocated £98.8 million towards technology expenditures last year, marking a 12% rise from £87.7 million the preceding year.
The BoE employs 704 IT professionals under Governor Andrew Bailey, who collectively earn £48.9 million, averaging an annual salary of £69,000 for each member of the tech team.
Patrick Sullivan, Chairman of the Parliament Street think tank said: “With sky high interest and the cost-of-living crisis hitting families hard, Governor Bailey should be showing restraint instead of embarking on a Kardashian style spending spree. Once upon a time Threadneedle Street was a shining example of prudence, these days it’s more like an LA reality TV show.”
Separate research from last week revealed that Threadneedle Street gave 4,460 staff “performance awards” in the financial year ending in 2023. The highest single bonus paid was worth £22,590 and more than 400 staff were given awards of more than £10,000. It has also been reported that more than 500 people at the Bank now earning more than £100,000 per year.
However, some city firms defended the extra investment.
Achi Lewis, Area VP EMEA for Absolute Software said: “Increasing tech investment is critical for driving efficiencies and protecting against security risks. Organisations like the Bank of England manage large volumes of highly sensitive data across a wide network of endpoints, so having high quality, resilient IT in place is an essential step forward.”
Cybersecurity expert, Oseloka Obiora, CTO, RiverSafe said: “Beefing up IT investment is a critical step for organisations tackling the tidal wave of highly sophisticated AI-enabled cyber threats. The BoE manages very complex volumes of important financial data, that requires the highest levels of security, so these measures to increase tech support are a step in the right direction.”
Khalid Talukder, Co-Founder of DKK Partners said: “The BoE sits at the very heart of the UK’s financial system, so this kind of heavy tech investment is critical for ensuring long term monetary stability. Cranking up IT budgets is sign that our aged central bank is finally catching up with the rest of the world.”
