Andrew Bailey: 'We are not desiring a recession but we will do what is necessary to bring inflation down'

Reacting to interest rate rise

Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey said that while the central bank is not actively seeking to trigger a recession with its monetary policy, it is willing to “do what is necessary” to bring inflation down to its 2% target.

Speaking to Sky News following the central bank's decision to raise interest rates by 50bps to 5%, Bailey was asked about his comments that the Bank was willing "to do anything" to reduce inflation, and if that included a recession. He said "we are not seeking to precipitate a recession", adding the economy was "much stronger and much more resilient than we expected it to be" due to the reduction of extrinsic economic shocks, such as energy prices, which were previously causing inflation to rise. "So we are not expecting, we are not desiring a recession. But we will do what is necessa...