Tag: Household

British households are more than £900 worse off after the vote to leave the EU, according to the governor of the Bank of England, in comments that risk a renewed confrontation with senior Brexit supporters in the government. Comparing the current state of household finances with forecasts made by the Bank before the referendum, prepared on the basis of a remain vote, Mark Carney told MPs that household incomes were now significantly lower than expected. Business leaders say economic nationalism is biggest growth threat Read more Speaking in front of the Treasury select committee of MPs, Carney also said the economy was 2% smaller than forecast before the EU referendum, despite the strength of the global economy and the Bank’s emergency cut in interest rates after the Brexit vote. Jacob Rees-Mogg told MailOnline Carney was “crying wolf”, while Boris Johnson, speaking on a visit to Argentina, insisted Brexit had not damaged the interests of the country. “I believe that the chancellor of the exchequer has given a definitive answer on this matter, which is that it is not the case that Brexit has damaged the interests of this country,” Johnson said. However, opponents of Brexit seized on Carney’s remarks as evidence of the pain being inflicted on households by Britain’s EU exit. Consumers have come under significant financial pressure from rising inflation since the Brexit vote, as the immediate drop in the value of the pound pushed up the cost of importing food and fuel to Britain. At the same time wage growth has remained weak despite the lowest levels of unemployment since the mid-70s. But after a year of falling living standards, earnings finally began to rise above inflation in February, signalling the worst of the pressure on household finances could be coming to an end. The strength of the world economy and availability of finance from the banking sector should have helped encourage companies to invest more, boosting the economy, he said.