LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Bank of England Chief Economist Andy Haldane said using monetary policy to boost productivity may be ineffective.
'Should monetary policymakers have sacrificed 1.5 million jobs for the sake of an extra 1 or 2 percent of productivity? Hand on heart, I can tell you this one would not knowingly have done so,' he said at the London School of Economics, on Monday.
Somewhat less of a contribution from monetary policy and more from structural policies, would probably be desirable, he noted.
Haldane observed that structural measures to boost investment will tend to raise the interest rate in the economy which equilibrates investment opportunities and savings plans.
There are so many measures to tackle the productivity puzzle, ranging from increased infrastructure spending to improved education and training programmes, he noted.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX