Bank of England's Cunliffe sees little direct exposure to UK from Russia

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has little direct exposure to economic turmoil in Russia, but it is important to weigh up risks to the financial system resulting from the market strife, a senior Bank of England official said on Wednesday.

BoE Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe also said the sharp fall in oil prices was good overall for the global economy and Britain, although policymakers should look beyond one-off effects from energy and food prices.

"What one needs to watch really carefully in a situation like this is whether that change in investor sentiment towards Russia, the volatility that's going on around Russsia, starts to transmit to other markets," Cunliffe told BBC radio.

He added that the core of the financial system was better equipped than it used to be to handle situations like this.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)