() – Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said on Thursday that recent evidence supported the case to gradually cut interest rates but that it was difficult to gauge the speed of easing.

“The recent evidence further supports the case to withdraw policy restrictiveness and I expect to continue to remove restrictiveness gradually over time,” Breeden said in a speech delivered at the University of Edinburgh.

“The second question is how quickly we should remove that restrictiveness. That is difficult to know and will depend on how the factors above evolve over time,” she added.

“To be clear, I expect Bank Rate to come down over time as the effects of the large shocks of the past continue to abate.”