BoE's Haskel: Trend towards intangible assets reinforces low interest rate environment

Jonathan Haskel, an external member of the Bank of England's (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee, argued that it would be appropriate to cut the policy rate now given the BoE's limited conventional monetary policy space.

Haskel and MPC member Saunders have voted in favour of a 25 pbs rate cut at each of the last three BoE policy meetings.

"Much-discussed low interest rate environment we find ourselves in, reinforced by the trend towards intangible assets, in part informs my recent votes on the MPC," Haskel explained in a speech delivered at the University of Nottingham. "Limited conventional monetary policy space means I continue to prefer to move now in order to ensure we achieve a sustainable return of inflation to target"

GBP/USD reaction

The GBP/USD pair largely ignored these comments and was last seen trading at 1.2945, adding 0.25% on the day.