BoE's Haldane says consumer spending has come back at a 'real pace'

  • "People are using their involuntarily-accumulated savings on a new house or a new car... there are plenty of those savings still to be used."
07 Dec, 2020

Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane said consumer spending in Britain has come back at a "real pace", according to a British newspaper.

His comments to the Daily Mail come after the British parliament approved a system of regional COVID-19 restrictions for England last week, replacing a month-long stricter national lockdown.

Haldane told the newspaper that people had accumulated around 100 billion pounds ($134.33 billion)in "excess savings" during lockdowns and are already beginning to spend that.

"Consumer spending has come back at a real pace," Haldane was quoted as saying.

"People are using their involuntarily-accumulated savings on a new house or a new car... there are plenty of those savings still to be used."

Britain is preparing to become the first country to roll out the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and Haldane said that it could deliver a boost to the British economy.

"There is plenty of scope there for the vaccine to release more of that pent-up demand," Haldane was quoted as saying.

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