LONDON – Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member
Andrew Sentance has again called for gradual increases in the BOE’s main
interest rate in order to tackle persistent above-target inflation.
In an interview with the Flintshire Leader, Sentance repeated his
view that interest rates should rise gradually now in order to avert
sharper rate rises in future.
“If you have interest rates too low for too long the problem we
have is it becomes more difficult to raise interest rates more sharply
in the future,” Sentance said.
“I would like to see the rates raised gradually now and not put it
off,” he added.
Sentance also said that manufacturing was the “most positive”
sector of the economy at present.
Last month’s MPC minutes show Sentance voted for a 50bps hike in
Bank Rate. He had previously voted for a 25bps rise.
The MPC member’s remarks came follow recent data that showed
headline CPI in February moved up to 4.4%, from 4.0% in January, more
than double the MPC’s 2.0% target.
–London newsroom: 00 44 20 7862 7492; email: ukeditorial@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$B$$$,M$$BE$,MSSFX$]
