UK productivity is improving: BOE

[LONDON] There are signs that productivity in the UK economy is improving Bank of England deputy governor Jon Cunliffe said on Thursday on the BBC.

Speaking to other media, Mr Cunliffe also said Greece's deepening debt crisis is showing no sign yet of spreading to other countries on the periphery of the euro zone. "We're not seeing signs of that at the moment. Financial markets are not showing there is contagion or spreading of those risks to the periphery," he told BBC Radio 5live in an interview.

Mr Cunliffe also said he believed that any decision by HSBC on whether to base itself outside of the Bank of England's jurisdiction would be driven by business considerations, not a search for looser regulation.

Separately, the deepening economic crisis in Greece is "very dangerous" and BOE needs to prepare for the worst, said Mr Cunliffe.

"It's a very volatile situation. It's a very fluid situation. It is a very dangerous situation.... We have to prepare for the worst," Mr Cunliffe said in an interview with BBC Radio 4.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney had said that the BOE was ready to take whatever action was required to limit the spillover if Greece were to leave the euro zone.

REUTERS