George offers exporters in UK little comfort

Bank of England Governor Mr Eddie George yesterday warned beleaguered exporters that there was little the Bank could do to reduce…

Bank of England Governor Mr Eddie George yesterday warned beleaguered exporters that there was little the Bank could do to reduce the strength of the pound. Addressing the Confederation of British Industry's annual luncheon in London, Mr George said it was extremely difficult for the bank to affect exchange rates through interest rate policy. His comments followed the disclosure earlier this week that the bank's Monetary Policy Committee had considered - and rejected - selling sterling on the foreign exchanges to try to get the pound down against the euro. Mr George said that it was the "surprising weakness of the euro" rather than the strength of sterling which was the main problem facing the MPC when it came to setting rates.