BoE's Miles says time for rate hikes is coming - magazine
LONDON (Reuters) - The time for a Bank of England interest rate hike is nearing and it is "highly likely" that rates will continue to rise over the next few years, policymaker David Miles said in an interview published on Wednesday.
Miles, who steps from the Monetary Policy Committee next month, said the key issue for the BoE was judging the point at which diminishing slack in the economy and rising cost pressures rise warrant raising rates from their record low 0.5 percent.
"My own reading, for what it is worth, is that the time is coming, and it is highly likely that Bank Rate will start rising over the next few years," Miles told Mortgage Strategy magazine.
He would not say how he intends to vote in his final MPC meeting, having never voted for an interest rate hike since joining the BoE in 2009.
But the magazine quoted him as saying: "I'm sure I'll have something to tell the grandchildren. What it'll be, we'll have to wait and see. It's never too late."
The comments echo a speech he gave last week, in which he confounded his reputation as a "dove" on the MPC by saying it was "likely to be right" that interest rates rise soon.
That speech raised the possibility that August's meeting could see a renewed split among rate setters. Fellow MPC member Martin Weale has also suggested he will vote to raise rates.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)
