Bank of England's Broadbent struck by lack of UK credit growth
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's economy is not going through a credit boom and the fall in manufacturing employment in the country is a result of global trends, Bank of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday.
"What is extremely striking is the lack of credit growth. This is the most credit-free recovery we've ever had," Broadbent told the Daily Mail when asked about criticisms that British economic policy was too focused on credit and not enough on manufacturing.
"I do not think rebalancing means manufacturing, specifically – it may mean tradables and there is no developed country in the world that hasn't seen a dramatic falling in manufacturing employment in the last 30 years," he said.
Broadbent also highlighted the importance for the BoE of weaker global growth at a time when Britain's government is seeking to bring down debt, something which will also have an effect on the country's economy.
"That's a very important ingredient in an environment of government debt reduction," he told the Daily Mail.
The BoE cited uncertainties about the global economy as it kept interest rates on hold at a record low earlier this month.
(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Sandra Maler and Tom Brown)
