New macro-prudential measures that financial markets do not expect tend to support financial stability by reducing systemic risk, a Bank of England (BoE) working paper says.

BoE officials Kristina Bluwstein and Alba Patozi find in their research that lower risk is seen most clearly in the equity and bond markets.

Central banks have increasingly employed macro-prudential policy tools since the global financial crisis to achieve financial stability. But the frequency with which those tools are used