In a speech setting out the tradeoff the Bank faces between keeping inflation in check and supporting growth and jobs, Carney noted signs that consumers continued to power the UK economy. “At present, households appear to be entirely looking through Brexit-related uncertainties. The saving rate has fallen towards its pre-crisis lows, and consumer borrowing has accelerated notably,” Carney said in a speech to the London School of Economics on Monday.
But he reiterated the Bank’s fears that this important driver of growth was under threat this year as the pound’s fall since the EU referendum pushes up the cost of imports and that is passed onto consumers as higher prices. Carney pointed to lessons from recent history that such growth tended to be both “slower and less durable”.
