Miles: room for additional QE if growth is weak
THE Bank of England still has the firepower to boost a sluggish economy and has scope for further stimulus with more asset purchases, policymaker David Miles said yesterday.
“If growth does stay very weak and inflation stays low and close to the target level there is more that we can do, we have not run out of ammunition,” he told Sky News.
“There is the scope for more quantitative easing … it remains a powerful weapon.”
Miles has been the strongest supporter of quantitative easing asset purchases on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) since the departure of policymaker Adam Posen earlier this year.
Miles said the central bank was running the most expansionary monetary policy in its history and the positive effects would become evident.
“I expect we will see growth pick up from the very low levels we have seen over the last year or so,” he said.