The Bank of England’s (BoE) Andy Haldane has said wage increases may be needed to get people back to work as recruitment stalls, raising fears of rate rises.
Speaking to LBC radio on Wednesday, he said there were already “some pretty punchy pressures on prices” and the central bank might need to turn off the tap of its huge monetary stimulus.
“If both pay, and costs are picking up, inflation on the high street isn’t very far behind. And that’s something, you know, people like me are paid to keep a close eye on and we are,” he said.
“And that may mean that at some stage we need to start turning off the tap when it comes to the monetary policy support we have been providing over the period of the COVID crisis.”
The UK’s consumer price index more than doubled to 1.5% in the 12 months to April and the bank expects it will overtake its 2% target later this year.
While, governor Andrew Bailey and other senior BoE officials have said the factors driving price growth are likely to prove temporary, Haldane raised concerns about passing the 2% mark.
“The risks at the moment for me are that we might overshoot that number for a bit longer than we’ve currently planned,” he said.
Sterling (GBPUSD=X) spiked following Haldane’s comments, currently up 0.3% to $1.42 against the dollar, and up just over 0.1% against the euro (GBPEUR=X).
The chief economist, who is set to leave the BoE following its monetary policy meeting later this month, warned on Tuesday that Britain’s housing market is “on fire”. Haldane said several factors including, the government’s stamp duty tax break and the BoE’s ultra-low interest rates meant the market would likely continue to run hot.
