BoE's Haskel: Risks to activity very much on downside

Jonathan Haskel, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England (BoE), is delivering his remarks on the state of the economy and the policy outlook at the Treasury Select Committee hearing.

Key quotes

"Faster vaccine rollout than government plans is upside risk for the economy."

"Downside risks to February forecasts are much more prevalent."

"Concerned about the dampening effect from high uncertainty in the UK-EU trade links."

"Firms' ability to repay debts and avoid insolvency represents a sizeable downside risk."

"Risk that worries me most is highly transmissible COVID variants."

"Risks to activity are very much on the downside, risks to supply are balanced."

"Less convinced that increased homeworking will yield aggregate productivity benefits."

Market reaction

The GBP/USD pair showed no immediate reaction to these comments and was last seen posting small daily gains at 1.4125.