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3 Apr 2014
BoE Carney not ruling out rate hikes ahead of general election
FXStreet (Bali) - Governor of the Bank of England Carney, quoted in the UK newspaper Northern, said interest rates could increase ahead of the next General Election, although noting that he wants to see more jobs creation in the North-East first before taking action.
Additional quotes from BoE Governor Carney
Being cited by MNI, Carney said, hikes would be “gradual” even though Britain’s economy is growing faster than any of the world’s developed nations. “We are one year into a recovery, but it is an uneven recovery... our job is to help turn this into a strong, sustainable and balanced expansion. This is not about getting back to where we were in 2008, our aspirations are much higher."
“The point is that if a recovery is just based in the South-East it is neither sustainable nor balanced. It has to include the North-East... we are here to make policy for the UK as a whole."
“There is still slack in the labour market, you can see that here and right across the country. We need to use up more of that slack before we raise rates.”
When asked about ruling out rate hikes ahead of the general election, Carney said “No, absolutely not.
“We will set policy as appropriate to meet our core responsibility to meet the two per cent inflation target. We haven’t set timing conditions on when that will be... we have been as explicit as we can about the nature of adjustments to interest rates, but we cant be specific. But we are absolutely clear that it will happen independent of the political cycle."
“When you raise interest rates it is a welcome sign. I share my colleague Charlie Bean’s view that it is confirmation the economy is recovering after some very difficult years... I’m not sure we will get a lot of cards or letters to thank us, but we will do it when it needs to happen.”
Additional quotes from BoE Governor Carney
Being cited by MNI, Carney said, hikes would be “gradual” even though Britain’s economy is growing faster than any of the world’s developed nations. “We are one year into a recovery, but it is an uneven recovery... our job is to help turn this into a strong, sustainable and balanced expansion. This is not about getting back to where we were in 2008, our aspirations are much higher."
“The point is that if a recovery is just based in the South-East it is neither sustainable nor balanced. It has to include the North-East... we are here to make policy for the UK as a whole."
“There is still slack in the labour market, you can see that here and right across the country. We need to use up more of that slack before we raise rates.”
When asked about ruling out rate hikes ahead of the general election, Carney said “No, absolutely not.
“We will set policy as appropriate to meet our core responsibility to meet the two per cent inflation target. We haven’t set timing conditions on when that will be... we have been as explicit as we can about the nature of adjustments to interest rates, but we cant be specific. But we are absolutely clear that it will happen independent of the political cycle."
“When you raise interest rates it is a welcome sign. I share my colleague Charlie Bean’s view that it is confirmation the economy is recovering after some very difficult years... I’m not sure we will get a lot of cards or letters to thank us, but we will do it when it needs to happen.”