LONDON, Nov 24 - British interest rates may need to rise further if growth stays above its long-term trend rate for a considerable period, Bank of England chief economist Charles Bean said on Monday. In an interview with Bloomberg News a few weeks after the BoE raised interest rates for the first time in nearly four years, Bean said monetary policy -- the main lending rate currently stands at 3.75 percent -- remains "stimulative". "If growth stays above the UK's trend rate for any significant period, then further interest rate rises may be required," Bean was quoted as saying. "We'll take this one step at a time. We want to look at this cautiously and see how things pan out." Bean said he considered the trend rate of growth to be about 2.5 percent. The British economy grew at an annualised pace of around 2.4 percent in the third quarter and the BoE has forecast growth of near three percent in the second half of next year.
"The level of interest rates is probably somewhat below where it's likely to be some years down the road," Bean was quoted as saying. "So, in that sense, it's stimulative. We need to make sure that growth is just a little above potential. We wouldn't want it to be much further above that level."//