MNI BRIEF: Mann Says BOE Should Err Towards Overtightening

The Bank of England should look to raise rates further from current levels or risk enabling further inflation persistence which will have to be unwound eventually, external Monetary Policy Committee member Catherine Mann said on Monday.

Pushing back against recent remarks by Governor Andrew Bailey and chief economist Huw Pill, Mann said policy makers should err on the side of tighter monetary policy as holding rates at current levels would eventually lead to worse trade-offs for the economy.

Calling for "tightening further in order to prevent the risks of further inflation persistence from crystalising," Mann told an event hosted by the Canadian Association for Business Economics that "if I am wrong, and there are excess negative effects to the real economy, it is an easier task to rectify as compared to regaining control over inflation."