No need to rush on UK rate cuts - Bank of England's Forbes

LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England interest rate-setter Kristin Forbes said the central bank should not rush into a decision to cut to interest rates, saying the economic impact of Britain's decision to leave the European Union would be slow-moving. "There may be a case to adjust monetary policy soon," Forbes said in an article published by the Daily Telegraph newspaper. "But until more hard data is available, I believe this is a good time to 'keep calm and carry on'." The BoE said last week that most of the nine members of its Monetary Policy Committee expected to give the economy more help at their next meeting which ends on Aug. 4. Its chief economist Andy Haldane said last week the BoE should move fast and hard to see off the risk of a shock to Britain's economy. But another MPC member, Martin Weale, sounded more cautious on Monday, saying he wanted to see evidence of the hit to the economy before moving on rates. Forbes sounded a similar note to Weale in her article published late on Wednesday, pushing up sterling beyond gains made earlier in the day when the BoE said its regional agents detected no immediate big hit to companies from the Brexit vote. Forbes said there were signs that British consumers, whose spending drove the country's recovery from the financial crisis, had remained calm after the referendum and there were costs for banks and savers to cutting already record-low interest rates. Furthermore, the depreciation of sterling after the vote would increase inflation while the recent fall in bond yields, the weaker pound and a relaxation of bank capital rules would all provide stimulus to the economy, she said. Many of the effects of the referendum on Britain's economy would be slow-moving, Forbes said. "Why not wait to get hard data, better understand the impact on different segments of the economy, and then carefully calibrate any monetary response to maximize the effectiveness and minimize the negative side effects?" she wrote. (Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Michael Holden)