Oral Answers to Questions

Saqib Bhatti Excerpts

Tuesday 5th September 2023 Commons Chamber

[John Glen]

Dialogue is ongoing on this matter and I can confirm that we will continue to work on this in the coming weeks.

[Saqib Bhatti (Meriden) (Con)]

Andy Haldane, the former Bank of England chief economist, recently said in a Sky News interview that the Bank of England kept on printing money for longer than it needed to. It is clear that central banks across the world have been addicted to cheap money and that this has contributed to inflation across the world. Does the Chancellor agree that printing cheap and easy money has not been without consequence, and instead our monetary policy must focus on important growth factors such as productivity?

[Jeremy Hunt]

I agree with what my hon. Friend says. The Bank of England itself has said there were problems with its inflation forecasting. It is learning the lessons from that and we must support it every step of the way as it brings down inflation.