In a interview with Sky News television on Sunday, Bank of England Deputy Governor Charles Bean argued against over-interpreting the latest figures on gross domestic product growth (GDP).

However, he did say: "We do think there's reason for some optimism going forward, some of the headwinds that we've been struggling against in the past couple of years will be abating somewhat."

Significantly, he added that: "Most particularly we've seen a big squeeze on households' real spending power ... going forward, that squeeze shouldn't be so intense."

Even so, he pointed out that: "[The figures were] stronger than we expected, but we should avoid getting over-excited (...) It's quite possible that we see weak growth in the next quarter. The big picture is of an economy that's been bumping along the bottom."

Asked about how the latest GDP data will influence the central bank's decision on whether to add further quantitative easing, on November 8th, Bean said that "it's always a mistake to read too much into one figure".

Bean also called attention to the fact that "some progress" has been made toward resolving the debt crisis in the euro area, Britain's biggest export market, making for a "slightly better picture".

Lastly, and as regards the British financial system, here too he sees "some signs" of improvement. He said that the Bank of England will be "proactive" and "interventionist" when it takes over new responsibilities for bank regulation.

AB

Related share prices