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A top Bank of England official has vowed to vote to respond ‘forcefully’ to tackle inflation, should inflationary pressures persist.
Speaking at the Bank of England Watchers’ Conference on Thursday, Dave Ramsden, the bank’s deputy governor for Markets & Banking, said he expects further increases in bank rate will be needed to return inflation to the bank’s 2% target.
In early November, the BoE lifted rates by 75 basis points, with the base rate now standing at 3.00%.
Ramsden noted that while some sources of uncertainty have eased, others remain.
On a positive note, Ramsden noted that the UK government’s energy price guarantee has added more certainty to the outlook for energy prices.
‘Government policy more broadly is on a more stable and predictable footing,’ he continued.
However, the deputy governor also noted that labour market conditions remain tight, and services inflation has hit 30-year highs. This is contributing more to overall inflation, he maintained.
‘I am not yet confident that domestically generated inflationary pressures from increased costs and firms‘