MNI BRIEF: Every BOE Meeting Now "Live", MPC's Taylor Says
MNI (LONDON) - Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Alan Taylor said iWednesday that uncertainty is high, wage data unclear and that the MPC could change policy at any meeting, with rate setters divided over the outlook for policy and what is causing stagnation in output.
Every upcoming MPC meeting "will be a live meeting because I think that's the nature of things when you're making (policy) in a time of extreme uncertainty," Taylor told the Treasury Select Committee.
Governor Andrew Bailey said he thought risks were two-sided, with the slowdown in activity reflecting both supply and demand effects and with ostensible negative productivity in 2024 raising questions about the reliability of the data. His colleague Megan Greene restated her view that more of the weakness in activity was probably due to supply side constraints, which points to more persistent inflation and more caution over easing policy. (see MNI BOE WATCH: Cuts 25BP, Ups Inflation View, Neutral Estimate )
Chief Economist Huw Pill said more work was needed to squeeze inflation out of the system and evidence of supply side pressures "entails maintaining some restriction in the monetary policy stance, and that points against both larger and more rapid (cuts)."