MNI BRIEF: BOE Mann Favours Later, Faster Policy Easing
MNI (LONDON) - Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Catherine Mann pushed back against the majority view on the MPC that favours gradual policy easing, instead making the case for delaying rate cuts and then moving more swiftly later on.
Speaking in Poland, Mann said that risk management suggested that it was better "to remain restrictive for longer, until right tail risks to the inflation process dissipate, and then to cut more aggressively." She said she believed that the neutral interest rate has probably risen, so policy has been less restrictive than the MPC has been assuming, and inflation has become embedded in labour and product markets.
The MPC voted 8-1 to hold the policy rate at its September meeting. Mann looks unlikely to back the expected November cut, as she said she had "a guarded view on initiating a cutting cycle." (see MNI BOE WATCH: Bank Rate Held With A Nod To November Cut )