BOE’s Bailey Says He Won’t Rush to Judgment About Inflation

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Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said he won’t rush to make judgments about inflation even after consumer prices leaped more than expected in June.

The remarks, in an interview with the Business Live website yesterday and published on Thursday, were a reaction to inflation rising 2.5%, more than the BOE’s 2% target.

“Today’s number -- yes, it was higher than we thought it would be,” Bailey said, according to Business Live. “It’s higher than pretty much most observers thought would be in that sense. What we will have to do, again, is go through all the evidence and assess to what extent we think the sorts of things that underlie that are likely to be transitory.”

Dave Ramsden, another member of the rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee last night said inflation was probably headed to 4% and that the BOE needs to think of tightening policy as a result. Bailey was more cautious but bridled at the suggestion he’s more relaxed about inflation.

“I do react somewhat to people who say ‘the Bank of England’s being casual about it,’” Bailey said.

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