Carney tells UK rates may rise this year

The governor of the Bank of England has told the UK to prepare for a potential rise in interest rates this year.

In a keynote speech, Mark Carney said a rate rise "could happen sooner than markets currently expect". The consensus among economists was that rates would rise in the first half of next year, or even earlier. Having last year guided people to expect rates to remain at the emergency level of 0.5% until 2016, financial markets had already become more optimistic on growth and shifted their expectations forward, pricing in the first rise in spring 2015. However, the governor's Mansion House speech last night to a City audience hinted the first rise could come in 2014. "There's alrea...