In January 2009 the Chancellor announced an Asset Purchase Facility (APF), to be administered by the MPC, aimed at ensuring greater liquidity in financial markets. The committee had already started to cut rates the previous autumn, but the effect of such changes can take up to two years and rates cannot go below zero. By March 2009, faced with very low levels on inflation and interest rates already at 0.5%, the MPC voted to start the process of quantitative easing (QE) – the injection of money directly into the economy – via the APF. It had the Bank buy government bonds (gilts), along with a smaller amount of high-quality debt issued by private companies. Although non-gilts initially made up a non-negligible part of the APF portfolio, as of May 2015 the entirety of the APF was held as gilts. On 7 August 2013, Governor Mark Carney issued the committee's first forward guidance as a third tool for controlling future inflation.