Bank of England policy maker Catherine Mann has announced her position on Brexit. She blames inflation for the UK’s departure from the EU. Mann is an American economist who serves on the Monetary policy committee. According to her, there are signs that the cost of living in the US and the EU is beginning to show a turnaround, but not yet in the UK.
All three regions faced supply and demand disruptions as a result of the “COVID and lockdown-induced global demand and resulting supply bottlenecks” and the energy crisis as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mann said.
“However, the UK has also been hit by a third type of crisis that makes it unique: no other country chose to unilaterally impose trade barriers on its closest trading partners,” she added.
Her comments are likely to anger a number of Conservative MPs, who have criticised the central bank for being too pessimistic about the UK’s prospects after leaving the EU. Inflation in the UK is still at 10.5%, only a fraction lower than the 11.1% that reached its highest level in 41 years in October and still well above the Bank of England’s 2% target.
