LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is a man of "utmost integrity", Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said, following sharp criticism of Powell's performance by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Bailey declined to comment directly on whether he was worried by Trump's attacks on Powell, but described the Fed chair as a friend.
"Jay Powell is a friend of mine, obviously we are very close, we work very closely together, and I'll say this again, he is a man of the utmost integrity," he said, speaking after the BoE cut rates to 4% from 4.25% earlier on Thursday.
"I'm really not going to comment on what's going on in the U.S. other than to comment on somebody who obviously I do know very well and I respect very much."
Reporting by David Milliken, William Schomberg, Suban Abdulla and William James, writing by Alistair Smout; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar
