Economists and some UK cabinet members are pressing the Bank of England to scale back or halt its programme of selling government bonds (gilts), warning that the policy is adding billions of pounds to public borrowing costs at an already fragile moment for government finances. The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee meets this week and is expected to reduce its annual gilt-sale target from £70bn to around £50bn, as yields on 10-year gilts surpassed 5.4% — their highest level since 2007 — partly driven by oil-market turbulence linked to the Middle East conflict. Critics argue the Bank's so-called quantitative tightening programme, which reverses emergency bond purchases made after the 2008 financial crisis, risks crystallising losses estimated at up to £120bn and could complicate Chancellor John Healey's first budget next month, though the Bank's governor, Andrew Bailey, has maintained that limiting costs to the government falls outside the central bank's remit.