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hancellor Jeremy Hunt has backed interest rate hikes being used to calm soaring inflation even if they increase the risk of pushing the UK into recession.
Mr Hunt insisted in an interview aired on Friday that the “only path to sustainable growth” is to bring down the high prices behind the cost-of-living crisis.
The Bank of England has been hiking interest rates as one measure to tackle inflation, but they could raise them even higher than the 4.5% they currently stand at.
If we want to have prosperity, to grow the economy, to reduce the risk of recession, we have to support the Bank of England in the difficult decisions that they take
Though down from 10.1%, the Consumer Prices Index of inflation remains stubbornly high at 8.7% while food remains alarmingly expensive.
Mr Hunt told Sky News that prioritising measures to slow rising prices was necessary even if rate hikes damage the UK’s gross domestic product, or GDP, a measure of the size of the economy.
Asked if he was comfortable with the Bank acting to bring down inflation even if it could precipitate a recession, Mr Hunt said: “Yes, because in the end inflation is a source of instability.
“If we want to have prosperity, to grow the economy, to reduce the risk of recession, we have to support the Bank of England in the difficult decisions that they take.
“I have to do something else, which is to make sure the decisions that I take as Chancellor, very difficult decisions to balance the books so that the markets, the world, can see that Britain is a country that pays its way – all these things mean that monetary policy at the Bank of England (and) fiscal policy by the Chancellor are aligned.”
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