‘Print more money to raise rates’

A BIGGER cash injection into the UK economy now could enable the Bank of England to push interest rates back up to normal levels sooner than expected, policymaker David Miles has argued.

The Bank last month voted to extend its programme of quantitative easing by £50 billion, but Mr Miles and fellow monetary policy committee member Adam Posen backed a £75bn rise.

Speaking to business leaders in Manchester yesterday, Mr Miles said: “Aggressively loosening monetary policy now might bring us closer to the point at which [the] bank rate could be moved back towards a more normal level – and [it] is certainly not at a normal level today.”

The Bank has kept interest rates at a record low of 0.5 per cent for three years, keeping borrowing costs down but frustrating savers.

SCOTT REID