Bank of England official says central bank mishandled its first response to Iran shock

Bank of England interest rate-setter Catherine Mann criticized the central bank's response to the Iran war shock, stating that the responses had pushed up borrowing costs in the UK. Mann argued that the rise in market interest rates reflected expectations of higher inflation and monetary policy uncertainty, rather than the BoE's actual actions to control inflation.

She traced this risk premium to the BoE's initial response in March, which she claimed was perceived as a 'wait mode' rather than taking necessary actions to control inflation. Mann said this made it difficult for her to find comfort in tighter nominal financial conditions, as much of the tightening appeared to be due to higher inflation risk and possible monetary policy uncertainty that could have been caused by BoE's own decisions and communications.

This view contrasts with that of Governor Andrew Bailey and other members of the monetary policy committee, who maintain that the rise in borrowing costs has given the BoE time to consider whether it needs to raise rates itself.