off-the-wire

QUOTES-Bank of England's Bailey speaks after interest rates rise to 4.5%

Kitco Media
By Reuters
Published:
Updated:
Reuters
LONDON, May 11 (Reuters) - The Bank of England raised its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.5% on Thursday, taking borrowing costs to their highest since 2008 with its 12th consecutive rate rise, as it seeks to curb the fastest inflation of any major economy. Below are quotes from Governor Andrew Bailey and other BoE policymakers, made during a press conference after the rate decision.


BOE GOVERNOR BAILEY ON INFLATION "Let me be clear, inflation remains too high."


"We have to stay the course to make sure inflation falls all the way back to the 2% target."


"We are acutely aware of how difficult this rise in food prices is for people and especially for those people on lower incomes. We do see that food price inflation will start to slow."


BOE GOVERNOR BAILEY ON CAUSES OF HIGH INFLATION "We do push back ... on some of the arguments which say the underlying cause is not to do with these other things, it's to do with the way monetary policy has been set in the past."


"This path that we've got is not unreasonable given the scale of the shock that we've had. We have to bear in mind the very large scale of the shock that we've had."


BOE GOVERNOR BAILEY ON HOW RISING RATES IMPACT ECONOMY "The rise in bank rates since December 2021 will weigh more on the economy in the coming quarters and the MPC factors this into its policy decisions."


BOE GOVERNOR BAILEY ON GDP FORECAST REVISION "It's a very big upward revision, but the level of growth is still very, it's still weak, let's be honest."


BOE GOVERNOR BAILEY ON FUTURE RATES "If there were to be evidence of more persistent pressures, then further tightening in monetary policy would be required."


"The MPC will adjust bank rate as necessary to return inflation to target sustainably in the medium term in line with its remit."


"We are not giving directional steer on rates," he said. "We will be guided by the evidence and that's very important."


DEPUTY GOVERNOR BEN BROADBENT ON WAGE GROWTH "What we've seen now .... is a lot of those global prices are declining," he said. "And we expect for that reason predominantly, so independently of the rate of unemployment, that will bring down wage growth." (Compiled by Kylie MacLellan, Sarah Young and James Davey)

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