JP Morgan AM's Karen Ward: Bank of England 'should not be blamed' for rate rises

It had 'no choice'

The Bank of England’s decision to raise rates 13 consecutive times has been defended by Karen Ward, chief market strategist, EMEA, JP Morgan Asset Management and adviser to Chancellor of the Exchequer, who argued it had “no choice”.

Ward said the central bank's efforts to tackle inflation leave the country facing a mild recession in the short term, while the alternative would be a deeper downturn in future.  "Ultimately, the Bank of England has no choice but to bring down demand", Ward wrote in The Times, and "should not be blamed for doing its job". Bank of England is running out of ideas to tackle inflation The Bank has been under pressure to bring down inflation, which was unchanged at 8.7% in May well above its 2% target. Core inflation, which strips out volatile energy and food prices, rose to its high...