Bank of England

Philip Hollobone Excerpts

Monday 26th November 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Osborne]

Crucially, I discussed this matter with the Governor of the Bank and he discussed it with the Monetary Policy Committee, and they thought it was a sensible move. As I have said to the shadow Chancellor, when the OBR produces its fiscal forecasts next week it will make very clear—I requested this—the distinction between the public finances with and without the APF move.

[Mr Philip Hollobone (Kettering) (Con)]

May I applaud the Chancellor for making his statement to the House of Commons first, and urge him to use that as a precedent for any future statements he may wish to make? What particular experience of recent Canadian economic performance will be of most use to Mr Carney in his new role as Governor of the Bank of England?

[Mr Osborne]

First, I am glad to have been able to make this announcement to the House of Commons, and I commend all those involved in the process for keeping the information secret. I want to pay tribute to the Canadian Government for also keeping this information secret until we could simultaneously make this announcement to the House of Commons and to the Canadian people in the Ottawa press conference. Sorry, I have forgotten the second bit of the question—

[Mr Hollobone]

The recent Canadian experience—

[Mr Osborne]

The Canadian economy did better than any other major western economy in weathering the financial crisis. Its public finances were in better shape, its banks were better regulated and the Bank of Canada was able to take Canada through this period in a way that in Britain and in many other western economies we wish we could have emulated.