London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Nov 26, 2025

Government is undercutting UK institutions, says former Bank governor

Government is undercutting UK institutions, says former Bank governor

Former Bank of England governor Mark Carney has accused the government of "undercutting" the UK's key economic institutions.

Mr Carney told the BBC the government's tax-cutting measures were "working at some cross-purposes" with the Bank.

He also pointed to a decision not to publish economic forecasts by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) alongside Friday's "mini-budget".

The mini-budget sparked turmoil on financial markets and hit the pound.

Investors had been demanding a much higher return for investing in government bonds, causing some to halve in value. Pension funds, which invest in bonds, were forced to start selling, sparking fears of a fresh market downturn.

The Bank of England was forced to step in to calm markets and on Wednesday, said it would buy £65bn of government bonds over the next fortnight in an attempt to restore stability.

Sterling hit a record low against the US dollar of around $1.03 on Monday. It has since risen to around $1.08 after the Bank's announcement and remained there after Prime Minister Liz Truss said she would stand by the measures announced in the mini-budget.

The cost of government borrowing, however, edged higher and the interest paid - or yield - on 10-year government debt rose.

Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, Mr Carney said that while the government was right to want to boost economic growth: "There is a lag between today and when that growth might come."

He said: "There was an undercutting of some of the institutions that underpin the overall approach - so not having an OBR forecast is much-commented upon and the government, I think, has accepted the need for that but that was important."


The OBR provides independent forecasts of the impact of government's plans on the economy as well as on public finances. The Treasury decided not to publish its forecasts on Friday, which fuelled market turmoil.

"Unfortunately having a partial budget, in these circumstances - tough global economy, tough financial market position, working at cross-purposes with the Bank - has led to quite dramatic moves in financial markets," Mr Carney said.

The Treasury has subsequently said the OBR will release a full forecast when Mr Kwarteng announces his medium-term fiscal plan on 23 November.

Mr Carney also said that the government's mini-budget showed it was "working at some cross-purposes with the Bank in terms of short-term support for the economy".

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled the country's biggest tax package in 50 years on Friday. But the £45bn-worth of tax cuts has sparked concerns that government borrowing could surge along with rising interest rates.

The Bank has a target to keep inflation at 2%. But prices are rising at their fastest rate in four decades and the Bank has been lifting interest rates to cool inflation.

Since the mini-budget, some economists believe interest rates could rise faster and higher, to as much as 6% by next May.

Ms Truss insisted that the government's plan was "right".

In her first remarks since Friday's announcement, Ms Truss told the BBC: "Of course there are elements of controversy, as there always are."

But she said: "This is the right plan that we've set out."

On Wednesday, Treasury Minister Andrew Griffith said that every major country "is dealing with exactly the same issues" as the UK such as Russia's war with Ukraine and the effect on energy prices.

But while Mr Carney conceded that the global economy is "going through some difficulties", he said that over the last week "developments have centred around the UK" and that recent financial turmoil was a response to the government's mini-budget.

Mr Carney was the governor of the Bank of England for almost seven years, from July 2013 to March 2020.

Before that he led Canada's central bank for five years, where he is seen as having played a major role in helping the country avoid the worst effects of the 2008 global financial crisis.

His successor as governor, Andrew Bailey, declined to comment on Thursday on whether the Bank would make further interventions.

Some economists - including former deputy governor Sir Charlie Bean - suggested that the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee call an emergency meeting and raise interest rates before a scheduled meeting on 3 November,

Mr Carney said it was "important that the system functions" but added: "We're talking about an interest rate meeting five weeks from now and it is important to see the persistence of the exchange rate moves, it is important to see what else the government does and take that into account."

He added: "This is a robust system, this is a resilient system, it has had a big knock but it will move forward."

The Bank is widely expected to raise interest rates before Mr Kwarteng announces his fiscal plan in late November.

This should set out how the government intends to follow its own fiscal rules. The current fiscal rules state that debt should be falling as a share of the UK's gross domestic product - which is all the goods and services that the country produces - by 2024-25.

The rules also dictate that by that same financial year, daily public spending should be balanced by revenues.

But it is possible that Mr Kwarteng could set out his own rules in November, changing those drawn up by his predecessor Rishi Sunak in November 2021.


Mark Carney said the government was "working at cross-purposes with the Bank"


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Economy Stalls as Reeves Faces First Budget Test
UK Economy’s Weak Start Adds Pressure on Prime Minister Starmer
UK Government Acknowledges Billionaire Exodus Amid Tax Rise Concerns
UK Budget 2025: Markets Brace as Chancellor Faces Fiscal Tightrope
UK Unveils Strategic Plan to Secure Critical Mineral Supply Chains
UK Taskforce Calls for Radical Reset of Nuclear Regulation to Cut Costs and Accelerate Build
UK Government Launches Consultation on Major Overhaul of Settlement Rules
Google Struggles to Meet AI Demand as Infrastructure, Energy and Supply-Chain Gaps Deepen
Car Parts Leader Warns Europe Faces Heavy Job Losses in ‘Darwinian’ Auto Shake-Out
Arsenal Move Six Points Clear After Eze’s Historic Hat-Trick in Derby Rout
Wealthy New Yorkers Weigh Second Homes as the ‘Mamdani Effect’ Ripples Through Luxury Markets
Families Accuse OpenAI of Enabling ‘AI-Driven Delusions’ After Multiple Suicides
UK Unveils Critical-Minerals Strategy to Break China Supply-Chain Grip
Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” Extends U.K. No. 1 Run to Five Weeks
UK VPN Sign-Ups Surge by Over 1,400 % as Age-Verification Law Takes Effect
Former MEP Nathan Gill Jailed for Over Ten Years After Taking Pro-Russia Bribes
Majority of UK Entrepreneurs Regard Government as ‘Anti-Business’, Survey Shows
UK’s Starmer and US President Trump Align as Geneva Talks Probe Ukraine Peace Plan
UK Prime Minister Signals Former Prince Andrew Should Testify to US Epstein Inquiry
Royal Navy Deploys HMS Severn to Shadow Russian Corvette and Tanker Off UK Coast
China’s Wedding Boom: Nightclubs, Mountains and a Demographic Reset
Fugees Founding Member Pras Michel Sentenced to 14 Years in High-Profile US Foreign Influence Case
WhatsApp’s Unexpected Rise Reshapes American Messaging Habits
United States: Judge Dressed Up as Elvis During Hearings – and Was Forced to Resign
Johnson Blasts ‘Incoherent’ Covid Inquiry Findings Amid Report’s Harsh Critique of His Government
Lord Rothermere Secures £500 Million Deal to Acquire Telegraph Titles
Maduro Tightens Security Measures as U.S. Strike Threat Intensifies
U.S. Envoys Deliver Ultimatum to Ukraine: Sign Peace Deal by Thursday or Risk Losing American Support
Zelenskyy Signals Progress Toward Ending the War: ‘One of the Hardest Moments in History’ (end of his business model?)
U.S. Issues Alert Declaring Venezuelan Airspace a Hazard Due to Escalating Security Conditions
The U.S. State Department Announces That Mass Migration Constitutes an Existential Threat to Western Civilization and Undermines the Stability of Key American Allies
Students Challenge AI-Driven Teaching at University of Staffordshire
Pikeville Medical Center Partners with UK’s Golisano Children’s Network to Expand Pediatric Care
Germany, France and UK Confirm Full Support for Ukraine in US-Backed Security Plan
UK Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods Face Rising Backlash as Pandemic Schemes Unravel
UK Records Coldest Night of Autumn as Sub-Zero Conditions Sweep the Country
UK at Risk of Losing International Doctors as Workforce Exodus Grows, Regulator Warns
ASU Launches ASU London, Extending Its Innovation Brand to the UK Education Market
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Visit China in January as Diplomatic Reset Accelerates
Google Launches Voluntary Buyouts for UK Staff Amid AI-Driven Company Realignment
UK braces for freezing snap as snow and ice warnings escalate
Majority of UK Novelists Fear AI Could Displace Their Work, Cambridge Study Finds
UK's Carrier Strike Group Achieves Full Operational Capability During NATO Drill in Mediterranean
Trump and Mamdani to Meet at the White House: “The Communist Asked”
Nvidia Again Beats Forecasts, Shares Jump in After-Hours Trading
Wintry Conditions Persist Along UK Coasts After Up to Seven Centimetres of Snow
UK Inflation Eases to 3.6 % in October, Opening Door for Rate Cut
UK Accelerates Munitions Factory Build-Out to Reinforce Warfighting Readiness
UK Consumer Optimism Plunges Ahead of November Budget
A Decade of Innovation Stagnation at Apple: The Cook Era Critique
×