Bank Of England’s Pill Says Policymakers Should Not Be Complacent About Inflation

Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill said policymakers should not be complacent about the current inflation situation, citing risks that inflation could rise further. According to Jin10, the UK News Association reported on June 29 that Pill voted at the last two meetings to support raising the interest rate to 4%, driven by concerns that inflation remained above the Bank of England’s 2% target. Pill said inflation faced upside risks due to higher energy prices linked to conflict in the Middle East. He added that in the past, inflation running 1 percentage point above target would have been seen as “a problem,” and he said it should still be treated that way because the central bank’s mandate is to keep inflation at 2%. He said he was somewhat concerned that after inflation previously rose to 11%, the policy debate had shifted toward viewing 3% inflation as not so bad. Pill also said it was not easy for him to vote differently from the majority of committee members. He emphasized that he did not cast dissenting votes to attract attention or to act as a troublemaker on the Monetary Policy Committee, adding that during his time on the committee he generally tended to support the institution’s overall stance even when he had doubts about the committee’s view.