Will QE start costing the government money?

There are fears that, by making the government’s debt servicing costs more vulnerable to short-term rises in interest rates, quantitative easing (QE) is storing up trouble for when Bank Rate rises. However, right from the onset of the scheme, it was clear that initial transfers from the Bank of England’s Asset Purchase Facility (APF) to the government would need to be followed later by payments in the opposite direction. The government could still avoid these payments if it wanted. But this is all a long way off in any case.