- Mark Carney, Bank of England Governor
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney defended the central bank's decision to highlight the risks of exiting the European Union, coming under renewed accusation from a lawmaker, who has been attacking Carney brutally on his role in the Brexit debate. Carney said the BoE sees Brexit as the biggest domestic risk to financial stability, and agreed that Brexit could cause the Pound to fall, creating an upside shock to inflation that would make it harder to keep interest rates low. The Governor said that if the UK stays in the EU, the next move in interest rates would probably be up. However, if Britons vote to leave the EU, there is a lower chance of a hike. Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent pointed out that the UK economy appears to have slowed quite sharply this year, while it is unclear how much of the slowdown was °triggered by the Brexit concerns. Jacob Rees-Mogg, a eurosceptic lawmaker, who has previously blamed Carney of venturing into politics with his Brexit warnings and urged him to resign, kept up his criticism. At the same time Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the committee quizzing Carney and other BoE officials, said lawmakers would have criticized the Governor if he had stayed silent on Brexit.
Prime Minister David Cameron and finance minister George Osborne are leading the campaign to keep the country in the EU. The finance ministry has issued similar warning to Carney.
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