The statements of Jonathan Haskell, a policymaker at the Bank of England, to the Financial Times on Thursday were as follows:-
- The fall in the headline inflation rate is very good news, however, it does not provide information about what we really care about.
- But what we really care about is constant and fundamental inflation.
- I don't think headline inflation gives good evidence of perseverance.
- I think that interest rate cuts are still out of reach.
- The change in voting is due to improvements in the critical indicators of inflation.
As a reminder, Haskell was one of the two voices that voted for a rate hike in February before changing his vote on the interest rate to constant in March last week, and this still makes him one of the more hawkish members of the committee, so saying that a rate cut is somewhat out of reach is consistent with a hawkish point of view.
Governor Andrew Bailey said last week that the British economy is heading towards the point where we can start cutting interest rates, after the central bank kept its benchmark interest rate at 5.25%, its highest level since 2008.
But he also said that the Bank of England needs more certainty that price pressures are completely under control before the start of the cut.
