The Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said that due to the “unpredictable” worldwide economic situation the UK’s interest rate cut is “shrouded” in “more uncertainty,” plus the ongoing US-China trade war.
During a Treasury Committee meeting Bailey told MPs that they have “genuine concerns” over the trade tensions.
Along with members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) they told the committee they do not know if interest rates will hold, be lowered or even raised.
Bailey told MPs, “I think the path remains downwards, but how far and how quickly is now shrouded in a lot more uncertainty, frankly.
“We’ve added the word ‘unpredictable’ to ‘uncertain’ because of the sheer nature of what we’re dealing with.”
Speaking about the recent UK-US trade deal Bailey said this is “a good thing,” he added, “It still leaves the average tariff level higher than it was pre all this starting, and that’s important to bear in mind.
“The UK is a very open economy…. so what affects our economy is not just whatever trade agreements we do, but also what the rest of the world does.
“You could make this point not just about China but also about the EU.”
