Bank of England might cut or raise rates after no-deal Brexit: Haldane

[September 27, 2018]  LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane said on Thursday that the central bank could decide to raise interest rates or to cut them if there was a disorderly, no-deal Brexit.

The Chief Economist of the Bank of England, Andy Haldane, listens from the audience at an event at the Bank of England in the City of London, London, Britain April 27, 2018. REUTERS/Toby Melville

The decision would depend on the balance of factors such as a fall in the value of the pound and the reduction in supply -- such as less investment and fewer migrant workers -- which would push up inflation, against the hit to demand, he said.

"It is genuinely two-sided which way we might act and how we will act will depend upon that balance of demand, supply and the exchange rate, just as it did pre-referendum," Haldane said during a question-and-answer event at the Institute for Government think tank in London.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Writing by William Schomberg)

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