Home Money I’d have cut rates at Christmas, says Bank of England’s former chief economist Andy Haldane

I’d have cut rates at Christmas, says Bank of England’s former chief economist Andy Haldane

by Elijah
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Slow growth: Former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane (pictured) said he would have already voted to cut interest rates.

The former Bank of England chief economist has criticized the Old Lady for being too slow to reduce interest rates.

Andy Haldane said he would have already voted to cut interest rates given the UK’s slow growth rate and progress in controlling inflation.

He said: “I would be cutting rates now, and probably would have done so since the end of last year.”

He told Sky News that although inflation would be within striking distance of the 2 per cent target by spring, there is a danger the Bank will be too reluctant to cut rates.

And he added: “They (the Bank) took a while to raise, and now we know it, and that is one of the factors that contributed to inflation escaping us.”

Slow growth: Former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane (pictured) said he would have already voted to cut interest rates.

He added: “The essence of monetary policy is to look forward, not to where inflation is, but to where it will be.”

The Bank of England left rates unchanged for the fourth straight time at its last meeting this month, but policymakers opened the door to cutting interest rates later this year.

Inflation has fallen from more than 11 percent in the fall of 2022 to 4 percent at the end of last year.

The Bank predicts it could reach 2 percent in the second quarter of this year, although it will then rise again in the second half of 2024.

Meanwhile, economists at Goldman Sachs warned that Brexit has weighed on the UK economy by increasing inflation and slowing growth.

The US banking giant said real gross domestic product (GDP) had underperformed by around 5 percent since the European Union membership referendum in 2016.

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