The former chief economist at the Bank of England has accused the central bank of mismanaging the UK economy amid soaring inflation.
Andy Haldane, who left his role at the Bank of England last summer, said his former employer should have acted sooner to curb inflation which is at its highest level for 40 years. The comments come amid warnings from the central bank that the UK is on the brink of a recession with inflation expected to top 10 per cent this year.
“Acting early would have saved the need for quite the degree of tightening that might now be needed to keep the lid on inflation,” Haldane told the Telegraph.
Haldane called for action to rein in price rises early last year, but claims he was rebuffed by colleagues who thought cost increases would be transitory.
“As resurgent demand bumped up against constrained supply, it struck me as more likely than not that we’d see something the like of which we haven’t seen for several decades,” he told the Telegraph.
“I’m really the wrong person to ask about why they got it wrong.”
The central bank has now been forced to take tough action to tackle spiralling prices. Rates rose to 1 per cent from 0.75 per cent this week, their highest level since 2009 and the fourth consecutive rate hike since December.
Haldane was considered for the top job at the Bank of England in 2020 but lost out to the current governor Andrew Bailey.
Read more: Thanks, Bank of England: Households will pay £858m more in interest after yesterday’s rate rise
For all the latest Lifestyle News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
