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EU poll should take place 'as soon as necessary', says Bank of England chief
Mark Carney says prospect of referendum is stoking business uncertainty,
which could hurt economy if firms put off investment
plans
The governor of the Bank of
England has intervened in the EU referendum debate, saying an in/out poll
should take place “as soon as necessary”.
Mark Carney said the prospect of a referendum was stoking business uncertainty, which could potentially hurt the economy if companies start putting off investment plans.
Asked whether he believed the referendum should be held sooner rather than later, Carney replied: “The government has made it clear that it is a priority. I am sure the government will act with appropriate speed in developing the negotiations ... as soon as necessary.”
Carney said that companies were already expressing concerns over David Cameron’s promised referendum and a potential UK exit from the EU.
“It’s in the interests of everybody that there is clarity about the process and the question and the decision,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“[The EU] is the largest economy in the world. It’s our largest investment destination. It’s the largest investor in the United Kingdom.”
The Bank’s top policymaker said that while businesses had already flagged up concerns over the poll, they were yet to act on them by delaying or cancelling spending plans.
The prime minister has promised a vote on EU membership by the end of 2017.
Elsewhere in the BBC interview, Carney said he wanted to “really dampen down” the view that cheap foreign labour had stopped increases in productivity.
He said: “The facts of this recovery have been there has been a huge growth in employment, one of the strongest job markets in the world, and we have seen a big increase in the willingness of the British people, British nationals, to work.
“In the course of the last two years, the number of older workers – people in their 50s and 60s – who stayed in the labour market has been more than 300,000 more than we would have seen in previous times. In addition, people want to work more hours. That’s another 200,000 to 300,000 more workers, effectively more workers.”
He added: “Compare that to the increase in net migration – the increase in the number of people coming to these shores – the first two numbers I just gave you total up to more than 500,000, the increase in net migration over that same period in the last two years is 50,000.
“So the real story here is that British people have wanted to work more and what’s happened with the economy – and now I’ll get to productivity – is that jobs have been created, people are getting those jobs, now that spare capacity is being used up – as you saw yesterday the unemployment rate is down to 5.5%, we’ve created 200,000 jobs in the last three months alone – so that spare capacity is being used up and now for the economy to move forward it’s going to be a story of productivity.”
Carney said foreign workers tend to start in jobs for which they are over-qualified and then over time move up the skill chain to secure work more suited to their skills.
He said: “They contribute to that increase in productivity. That is something we see across the economy.”
Mark Carney said the prospect of a referendum was stoking business uncertainty, which could potentially hurt the economy if companies start putting off investment plans.
Asked whether he believed the referendum should be held sooner rather than later, Carney replied: “The government has made it clear that it is a priority. I am sure the government will act with appropriate speed in developing the negotiations ... as soon as necessary.”
Carney said that companies were already expressing concerns over David Cameron’s promised referendum and a potential UK exit from the EU.
“It’s in the interests of everybody that there is clarity about the process and the question and the decision,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“[The EU] is the largest economy in the world. It’s our largest investment destination. It’s the largest investor in the United Kingdom.”
The Bank’s top policymaker said that while businesses had already flagged up concerns over the poll, they were yet to act on them by delaying or cancelling spending plans.
The prime minister has promised a vote on EU membership by the end of 2017.
Elsewhere in the BBC interview, Carney said he wanted to “really dampen down” the view that cheap foreign labour had stopped increases in productivity.
He said: “The facts of this recovery have been there has been a huge growth in employment, one of the strongest job markets in the world, and we have seen a big increase in the willingness of the British people, British nationals, to work.
“In the course of the last two years, the number of older workers – people in their 50s and 60s – who stayed in the labour market has been more than 300,000 more than we would have seen in previous times. In addition, people want to work more hours. That’s another 200,000 to 300,000 more workers, effectively more workers.”
He added: “Compare that to the increase in net migration – the increase in the number of people coming to these shores – the first two numbers I just gave you total up to more than 500,000, the increase in net migration over that same period in the last two years is 50,000.
“So the real story here is that British people have wanted to work more and what’s happened with the economy – and now I’ll get to productivity – is that jobs have been created, people are getting those jobs, now that spare capacity is being used up – as you saw yesterday the unemployment rate is down to 5.5%, we’ve created 200,000 jobs in the last three months alone – so that spare capacity is being used up and now for the economy to move forward it’s going to be a story of productivity.”
Carney said foreign workers tend to start in jobs for which they are over-qualified and then over time move up the skill chain to secure work more suited to their skills.
He said: “They contribute to that increase in productivity. That is something we see across the economy.”
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