Bank’s deputy governor sees glimpse of economic progress
BANK of England deputy governor Charlie Bean said yesterday that there was “reason for some optimism” going forward, but warned against getting overexcited about the latest GDP figures showing Britain pulled out of recession in the third quarter.
“We should avoid getting overexcited,” Bean told Sky News, adding that growth could be weak in the fourth quarter.
“We do think there’s reason for some optimism going forward. Some of the headwinds that we’ve been struggling against in the past couple of years will be abating somewhat,” he said.
“There’s been some progress in dealing with the Eurozone problems – still a long way to go there but again slightly better picture – and also some signs that maybe conditions are improving in the banking system.”
Bean’s remarks came alongside a defence by chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander of the government’s spending cuts on the BBC’s Sunday Politics show. Alexander said “the judgement we made when we started out was the right one, and it’s a judgement we’ve got to stick with”.