King: Bank rate 'will stay low for four years'

He is believed to have told senior American economist David Hale that the tax increases and spending cuts needed in the UK would be so unpopular they would keep the party that introduced them "out of power for a whole generation", the Times reports. After the meeting with King, on March 11, Hale attended a drinks party and a breakfast meeting the following morning. Both gatherings were off the record but, according to people present, he also said King believed to compensate for the fiscal pain ahead, the Bank would need to keep interest rates extremely low. The bank rate is currently...