Steeper yield curve will be factor in BoE's QT decision, Ramsden says

LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - Higher long-dated British government bond yields will be one of the factors the Bank of England takes into account when it sets the annual pace of its bond sales in September, Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden said on Tuesday.

Many investors expect the BoE to slow the pace at which it reduces its holdings of gilts bought under quantitative easing from the current rate of 100 billion pounds ($136 billion) a year, which is achieved through a mix of outright sales and not reinvesting the proceeds of maturing bonds.

Ramsden was asked about remarks made by BoE Governor Andrew Bailey to a House of Lords Committee slightly earlier on Tuesday where the governor said the steeper yield curve had made this year's decision on quantitative tightening more interesting.

"I couldn't really better the comments that my governor made in the Lords this afternoon. It is always an interesting process and discussion," Ramsden said at a panel discussion hosted by Barclays and the CEPR think tank.

"I did say earlier that movements at the long end of the (yield) curve were a particular focus for us more generally in the Bank. So I think that's consistent with what Andrew (Bailey) said," Ramsden added. ($1 = 0.7344 pounds) (Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce)