Time to begin policy tightening approaching, says BOE official

London

BANK of England (BOE) policymaker Ian McCafferty said the UK economy will continue to recover and the time to begin policy tightening is approaching.

"The economy is starting to return to more normal conditions, after arguably the biggest shock in over a hundred years, and we expect this healing process to continue," he said in a speech released on Friday by the central bank. "As a result, the time of the extraordinary policy stance of recent years is gradually drawing to a close."

Mr McCafferty was one of two of the BOE's nine policy makers who had been voting for an interest-rate increase in 2014 and then dropped their call as inflation slowed. While the rate was left at a record-low 0.5 per cent this month, recent decisions have been "finely balanced" for two…