Time is not yet right for rate increases, says BoE’s deputy governor
London — Bank of England (BoE) deputy governor Jon Cunliffe on Wednesday signalled that now is not the time to raise interest rates, siding with his boss Mark Carney in a deepening split between officials on the need for higher borrowing costs. Speculation mounted last week that Governor Carney’s grip on decision-making at the BoE was weakening when chief economist Andy Haldane said he might break ranks and join dissenters who voted in June for Britain’s first rate increase in a decade. But Cunliffe said he wanted more time to see how improvements in business investment and exports could compensate for a consumer slowdown before deciding to raise interest rates from their record low 0.25%. He stressed weak wage growth and said the lesson from the past few years was that Britain’s economy had not generated much domestic inflation pressure, despite a sharp fall in unemployment. Asked in a BBC radio interview if now was the right time to raise interest rates, Cunliffe said: "[Consumer ...
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