Huw Pill: Raising Interest Rates Now May Prevent More Aggressive Hikes Later

Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill has stated that raising interest rates now could potentially prevent more aggressive hikes later to control inflation.

Pill made these remarks while speaking at the Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce on Thursday, where he noted that a prompt increase in Bank Rate may help head off 'catch up' nominal dynamics that threaten to make temporary departures from target inflation more persistent.

In July, Pill and two other Monetary Policy Committee members supported raising interest rates, but the majority of committee members voted against the increase, choosing to wait for clearer indicators of how the Iran war would affect long-term inflation pressures.