Bank of England’s Andy Haldane predicts “rapid-fire” recovery
The Bank of England’s chief economist has said he expects a rapid economic recovery could soon be underway but warned the pandemic has exacerbated existing social disadvantages.
Andy Haldane, who has consistently been the moist optimistic voice among economists, said the economic recovery was “coming soon”.
“As I’ve been saying for months – drawing on the economics of coiled springs, and crouching tigers, and ‘Chicken Lickens’ – I do think more likely than not we are [set] for a rapid-fire recovery. That is coming, and I think that is coming soon,” he said at a Women in Banking and Finance awards ceremony.
In September Haldane said there was a risk that overly pessimistic views about the impact of the pandemic would hold back Britain’s recovery.
“Encouraging news about the present needs not be drowned out by fears for the future. Now is not the time for the economics of Chicken Licken,” he said, citing the tale of a bird who worries the sky is falling in after an acorn lands on his head.
Haldane’s comments follow the BoE’s March policy minutes, published earlier today, which revealed the BoE’s rate-setters disagreed on the outlook for the economy.
The central bank Monetary Policy Committee voted unanimously to hold rates at 0.1 per cent dampening expectations of any imminent change.
Haldane did warn there are risks of more persistent damage to people’s job prospects as a result of the pandemic, not least the more disadvantaged.
“It seems very likely, based on the evidence we have so far, that the deepest and the most damaging of those scars will be felt by those least advantaged in the job market, including women,” he said.