London — Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane is leaning toward joining the hawks on its monetary policy committee (MPC), saying the risks of leaving policy tightening too late are rising and that he considered a vote for a rate increase as early as June. "The risks of tightening ‘too early’ have shrunk as growth and, to a lesser extent, inflation have shown greater resilience than expected," Haldane said in a speech published on Wednesday. "Provided the data are still on track, I do think that beginning the process of withdrawing some of the incremental stimulus provided last August would be prudent moving into the second half of the year." The comments from Haldane, usually on the more dovish end of the panel, add to signs that policy makers are becoming increasingly restless as inflation breaches their 2% target. Kristin Forbes, who is leaving the bank at the end of the month, told Bloomberg on Monday that inflation driven by the fall in the pound since the referendum can...
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