Bank of England governor Mark Carney has robustly defended his stance on the UK’s EU referendum debate and accused one of his prominent critics of trying to “undermine” the Bank’s remit.
The comments came in testy exchanges during Mr Carney’s evidence to the Treasury select committee.
Mr Carney was answering questions from Jacob Rees-Mogg, who favours Brexit.
He said the Bank had a responsibility to the British people “who don’t want risks kept from them”.
Earlier this month, the Bank of England gave its starkest warning yet that a UK vote to leave the EU could hit the economy.
Mr Carney warned that the risks of leaving “could possibly include a technical recession”.
Vote Leave campaigners strongly criticised Mr Carney, with Mr Rees-Mogg calling for him to resign.
During the hearing, Mr Rees-Mogg argued that the Bank of England would not comment on opposition economic policy during a general election campaign, so should not comment on the effects of a UK departure from the EU during the referendum campaign.
