The Bank of England has been targeted in an inflation installation stunt in the centre of the City of London.
Over the weekend, a satirical art piece appeared across the road from the central bank’s office on Threadneedle Street.
A black Canon printer, sitting atop a decorative silver-beaded pedestal surrounded by a stream of banknotes, was locked inside a tall transparent display case. The case, held up by a bright red frame, reads: “In case of emergency inflation. Break Glass.”
A pair of black handcuffs was also resting on the base of the pedestal.
The installation appears to satirise a Bank of England strategy known as “quantitative easing,” that involves the creation of new money to purchase government bonds from private institutions.
The method aims to inject liquidity into the financial system in a bid to lower interest rates, encourage borrowing and stimulate spending.
The Bank first started the programme in March 2009 following the financial crisis. In 2022, it began to reverse the operation with quantitative tightening, where it allowed bonds to mature without replacing them. Last month, the Bank laid out plans to slow down its reduction pace to ease pressure on public debt markets and bond yields.
Mystery artist plays on inflation fears
Questions are swirling in the City over who was behind the installation, with the style matching previous works of political street artist Banksy. Earlier this year it emerged that the removal of three Banksy stunts in London had cost taxpayers nearly £150,000.
The largest of those bills related to a mural painted on the Royal Courts of Justice in London in September 2025, which came with a hefty removal price tag of £85,000.
The new stunt targeting the Bank comes as inflation fears in the UK rise following economic turmoil from the Iran war. Printing money via quantitative easing would generally be expected to stoke inflation even more.
The latest inflation index report from accounting and advisory firm BDO showed a reading of 103.65, up from 102.18 in August. It marked its highest reading since June 2023.
Elevated costs and weakening demand were cited as putting pressure on businesses ahead of the forthcoming Autumn Budget.
The surge in inflation is tipped to take a chunk out of Chancellor John Healey’s headroom at the forthcoming Budget. Influential think tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies has forecast that Healey might have to top up department budgets by as much as £35bn by the end of the decade following rampant inflation.
The City of London, Banksy and the Bank of England were approached for comment.