BoE's Bean: We have sent a clear signal on interest rates

Charlie Bean, the deputy governor of the Bank of England (BoE), said the Bank has sent a "clear signal" it will not increase interest rates anytime soon as he expressed surprise at investors' reaction to its position.

The central bank is "communicating not just to market participants, but to people, to households and businesses, to give them a clear signal that interest rates are not likely to rise imminently," Bean said in an interview with Bloomberg. Under its policy of 'forward guidance', the Bank last month forecast leaving its key rate at a record low 0.5% until late 2016, when it expects the unemployment rate to drop to 7%. But investors appear to doubt whether the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee will leave it that long before making a change: yields on short-sterling futures contracts expir...