Bank of England: Economic Forecast

Lord Barnett Excerpts

Wednesday 6th October 2010 Lords Chamber

Asked By

[Lord Barnett]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the most recent Bank of England economic forecast.

[Lord Barnett]

My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper, and I think I might prefer my noble friend to answer it. [Laughter]

[The Commercial Secretary to the Treasury (Lord Sassoon)]

Would anyone else like to answer? The Government consider a range of external views, including those of the Bank of England, when making their assessment of the UK economy and in developing policy. The Bank of England economic forecast in the August inflation report is very clear that the Monetary Policy Committee expects the UK recovery to continue, and its growth forecasts remain higher than those presented at the Budget by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.

[Lord Barnett]

I think I thank the Minister for that Answer, but he forgot to tell us what his views are of the Governor of the Bank of England. As he did not, perhaps noble Lords will not mind if I quote something that he said the other day at the TUC conference. He said, and it is worth quoting:

“There is a perfectly reasonable debate about the precise speed at which to reduce the deficit”.

Does the Minister agree with that?