Bank of England Ready to Take Further Action, Bailey Says
Bank of England Ready to Take Further Action, Bailey Says
(Bloomberg) --
The Bank of England is poised to inject more stimulus into the economy as it recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, according to Governor Andrew Bailey.
“Do we stand ready to take action? We do,” Bailey said, speaking in an interview with Sky on Friday. “We have to be ready for that, because we are still very much in the midst of this.”
Bailey’s comments follow official data published this morning showing the economy shrank by a record 20.4% in April. Earlier this week, the OECD said Britain will likely be the worst-impacted by the pandemic among developed economies.
While the contraction was “dramatic and big,” it’s broadly in line with the BOE’s forecasts, Bailey said, adding there were signs the economy was slowly recovering.
BOE officials announce their next policy decision on June 18. Economists are expecting them to boost their bond-purchasing program. Speculation has been mounting that policy makers could eventually take borrowing costs negative to combat the fallout from the virus.
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