I’m not a pessimist, says BoE’s Bailey – it really is that bad

The Bank of England governor has hit back at critics who said he has an “ultra pessimistic” view of the UK economy. “I see it as a realist view,” Andrew Bailey told a Staffordshire local paper. He had previously said that the UK’s outlook was the worst he had ever seen. The Bank of England has taken the view that the economy can grow only about 1% without generating damaging inflation — far lower than the longer-term trend. As a result, it has said that interest rates will not be lowered from their current level of 5.25% until 2025 at the earliest. New forecasts have said the UK will have the second worst economic growth in the G7 over the next two years. The OECD warned that only Germany will fare worse. The Times (£)and The Times (£)The Telegraph (£)