The Bank of England’s new chief economist has cast doubt on the likelihood of a rise in interest rates before Christmas.
Huw Pill took over this summer from Andy Haldane and stated that there is a greater need to control inflation.
But he said there was no guarantee that such a move would come next month, adding: ‘I genuinely do not know today how I will vote.’
Chief economist at The Bank of England, pictured in 2015, Huw Pill said there was a growing need to take action to bring inflation back under control
Speaking at an economics conference in Bristol yesterday, Mr Pill admitted that he was ‘looking perhaps for reasons not to hike rates’.
And he warned that interest rate rises – when they come – may be steeper than expected.
It had been assumed rates would rise to 0.25 per cent and then go up by 25 so-called ‘basis points’ thereafter – such as from 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent.
This month, the Bank defied all expectations by declining to raise rates from 0.1% to 0.25 percent (record low) earlier in October. Pictured: October’s Bank of England (file photo).
But Mr Pill said: ‘I don’t want to give an impression that there is a piece of data that will come out, and I will look at that and say, “OK, it’s zero or 50 or 25 or 40 basis points”, or whatever.
‘There is an attraction at some point to getting back to a multiple of 0.25, but we are not under pressure to do that immediately.’
He made these comments as the nation faces a crisis in its cost-of living.
Prices are rising at such a fast pace that inflation has hit 4.2 per cent – its highest level for a decade.
The speculation is that the Bank of England may raise interest rates to control inflation and bring down the cost of living.
However, higher interest rates can be used to reduce inflation but they make it more difficult for mortgages and other loans to be approved.
Higher taxes are also facing households, as there will be several increases in April. This includes a hike in the national insurance, which is used to cover extra health care spending.
Bank of England defied expectation earlier this month and refused to increase rates, despite their record-low 0.1 percent to 0.25 %.
ONS reported that the Consumer Price Index inflation rate increased from 3.1% to 4.2% in September, and it rose to 4.2 percent for October.
The cost of servicing Britain’s towering national debt more than tripled last month as inflation sent interest payments soaring.
In a bleak report, the Office for National Statistics said the Government spent £5.6 billion on debt interest in October alone.
That amounted to £180 million a day and was more than 200 per cent higher than the £1.8 billion spent servicing the debt in October last year.
The national debt has ballooned to nearly £2.28 trillion, or 95.1 per cent of gross domestic product – a level not seen since the early 1960s.