MNI BRIEF: MPC Split On Over-Tightening Risks - BOE Dhingra

Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee members have moved to "two ends of the spectrum" on the risks of over-tightening against a backdrop of data uncertainty, Swathi Dhingra said Tuesday, although adding that she felt it would risk reinforcing stagflation.

Dhingra, speaking at a Royal Economic Society event, when asked about policy making under heightened uncertainty said some of her colleagues have said they would "rather err on the side of over-tightening. My worry is that if we do that ... we obviously risk damaging supply capacity and that could be more stagflationary." The MPC split five-to-four in favour of leaving the policy rate unchanged in September.

Dhingra also said that low data quality, which has seen the Official for National Statistics delay publication of its latest Labour Force Survey, has been "a really, really big issue," with policymakers wanting to assess early-cycle labour market indicators but that the numbers have not been reliable numbers.