BoE's Andrew Bailey warns Budget tax hikes add 'uncertainty' for interest rate cuts

Job cuts also likely

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has cautioned that tax rises in the Budget could cause “uncertainty” within the UK economy, leading to unpredictability about the future path of interest rate cuts.

Speaking to members of the Treasury Select Committee earlier today (19 November), Bailey said the increase in employers' national insurance contributions (NICs) announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her inaugural Budget was "one of the biggest uncertainties ahead" for monetary policy.  As such, "a gradual approach to removing monetary policy restraint will help us to observe how this plays out, along with other risks to the inflation outlook", the BoE governor said.  "There are different ways in which the increase in employers' national insurance contributions announced in the Autu...