BoE's Haldane won't be pinned down on direction of next rate move
LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane declined to speculate on Wednesday whether the bank's next move would be an interest rate hike or a cut, adding to his reputation as the monetary policymaker most cautious about the economic outlook.
"I don't want today to be pinned down on quite when it is (that) rates might move, or even in which direction," Haldane told the BBC in an interview.
"When lift-off comes will depend importantly on how the fortunes of the economy play out. For now, the vast majority of the Monetary Policy Committee are happy where interest rates are," he said.
While almost all BoE rate-setters have said the next move by the BoE is likely to be up, Haldane has previously highlighted the risk of an economic slowdown that ultimately might force the BoE to cut rates below their current record low of 0.5 percent.
Britain's economy has grown strongly over the past two years but the pace of expansion has moderated recently and inflation has fallen below zero, complicating the outlook for officials judging when to raise borrowing costs.
Currently, Ian McCafferty is the only one of the MPC's nine members who is voting to raise rates.
Last week the BoE published its latest outlook for the British economy, which signalled no move towards an early rate rise.
Britain's unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since early 2008, data showed on Wednesday, but earnings grew more slowly than expected.
Haldane described price pressures as "pretty subdued" and he expected pay growth, when adjusted for inflation, to decline temporarily when inflation starts to rise again around the turn of the year.
"But still underlying strength in the jobs market is there. We still expect inflation-adjusted take-home pay to keep on increasing to underpin the continuing pretty solid recovery we expect to happen," Haldane said.
BoE Governor Mark Carney said earlier that the MPC expected that interest rates would rise "at some point".
"As the economy progresses ... that decision (on whether to continue to keep rates on hold) will become more difficult," he told Sky News television.
(Reporting by David Milliken and Andy Bruce; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa and John Stonestreet)
