Bank of England's Carney says he is "serene" about Brexit warnings
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said he was "absolutely serene" about the way the central bank warned of a possible Brexit hit to Britain's economy, before voters decided in June to leave the European Union.
"I am absolutely serene about the ... judgments made both by the MPC and the FPC," Carney told lawmakers, referring to the Bank's monetary and financial policy committees.
Carney came under criticism from supporters of Brexit in the run-up to the referendum, and after it, for saying the economy would face a material slowdown, and possibly a recession, in the event of an "Out" vote.
Data has suggested Britain's economy did not suffer the kind of devastating post-Brexit vote hit forecast by some supporters of the Remain campaign, but economists say it is heading for a slowdown.
Carney fended off criticism from some lawmakers that the Bank moved too aggressively to help Britain's economy through the Brexit vote shock in early August when it cut interest rates, expanded its bond-buying programme and took other measures to ease lending.
"(I) absolutely feel comfortable with the decision I supported and the committee took in August to supply monetary policy stimulus," he said.
Carney said the Bank had expected the main sectors of Britain's economy to bounce back after the initial impact of the referendum in July, as shown in a series of purchasing managers indexes published in recent days.
The BoE said in August that most of its policymakers expected to cut interest rates further below their record low level of 0.25 percent later this year, if the economy slowed as it expected.
Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said on Wednesday he expected to vote for another rate cut in 2016 if the economy evolves as the Bank forecast last month.