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MPC veteran warns on plans to extend Bank’s powers
The successor to Mervyn King will have an “unduly powerful role” thanks to Treasury plans to extend the powers available to the Bank of England (BoE), one of the bank’s advisers has warned.
Long-serving Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Kate Barker said the move would give unelected officials too much power and that big policy decisions “should be left in the hands of the Chancellor”, reports The Guardian.
BoE governor Mervyn King is due to retire in June next year.
Regulatory oversight should be the job of the Treasury, based on advice from the BoE and other bodies involved in banking regulation, Barker said.
She criticised government plans to create a financial policy committee (FPC) alongside the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC), which sets interest rates.
“More policy decisions should be left in the hands of the Chancellor, rather than unelected officials at the Bank of England,” she said.
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“Mervyn King’s successor will be appointed to an unduly powerful role for an unprecedented eight-year term.”