WASHINGTON, Oct 5 ― IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said yesterday the Bank of England (BoE) correctly moved swiftly in reaction to Britain's budget proposal late last month ― a plan which included a now-scrapped tax cut for the wealthy and send the pound dramatically lower.
She said it is important to avoid a contradiction between government and central bank policies.
“We cannot have fiscal policy working against monetary policy by providing untargeted policy support. It has to go to the most vulnerable segments of society,” she said in an interview with Al Arabiya.
“In UK we have seen that contradiction between monetary and fiscal policy,” she said, but “The Bank of England acted very appropriately quickly.”
And she noted that authorities are “taking measures to ensure that there is consistency (and) now there are changes in how the package is going to be pursued.”
UK Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng on September 23 announced the debt-driven mini-budget, which slashed taxes and sparked market turmoil.
In response, the BoE began buying government bonds to prop up the currency.
Prime Minister Liz Truss on Sunday conceded she should have better prepared Britain for her plan, which went further than many had expected. ― AFP
