UK showing signs of persistent inflation, BoE's Bailey says

Reuters
·1 min read
FILE PHOTO: Annnual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington
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SINTRA, Portugal (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said last week's rise in interest rates reflected a resilient economy and unexpectedly persistent inflation, sticking closely to his message after the BoE raised rates to 5% from 4.5%.

"The cumulative data - both particularly on the labour market and on the inflation release we had, which to us showed clear signs of persistence - caused us to conclude that we had to make really quite a strong move," Bailey said at a European Central Bank forum in Sintra, Portugal.

Bailey added that in his view the unexpected half-point rate rise was preferable to two consecutive quarter-point moves.

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi and Francesco Canepa; writing by David Milliken; editing by William Schomberg)