The Bank of England (BOE) is closely watching the UK’s booming housing market, as it could drive the price pressures higher, threatening the post-pandemic economic recovery, Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden said in an interview with The Guardian on Tuesday.
Key quotes
"There is a risk that demand gets ahead of supply and that will lead to a more generalized pick-up in inflationary pressure. That's something we are absolutely going to guard against.”
“We are looking carefully at the housing market and a raft of real-term indicators.”
"If it is not temporary, we know what to do about that.”
“We can push bank rate up from its historically low level [0.1%] and we know what that will do to demand."
Market reaction
GBP/USD is retracing from three-year tops of 1.4247, hovering near 1.4225, unfazed by BOE-speak.
