MPC member rejects call to print more money

The Bank of England does not need to print more money to support the economy, according to David Miles, a dovish member of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).

Ahead of tomorrow's publication of the minutes from this month's MPC meeting, Mr Miles said: "There could be circumstances under which I would judge the right policy would be to embark on further asset purchases, but that's not how I've seen things thus far."

The Bank created new money to buy £200bn of mainly government bonds between March 2009 and February 2010. With the UK economy stuttering and market turmoil hitting confidence, there have been calls for the MPC to buy more assets to release money for investment elsewhere.

Mr Miles has argued that an early rate rise to combat inflation could drop the economy back into recession. However, he told Dow Jones: "We are on a recovery path, but it's fragile."

The TUC has warned ahead of today's unemployment figures that the UK has had a "jobs gap" of 158,000 since before the recession. The gap affects the North-east, the West Midlands and the South-west, as well as London boroughs such as Haringey and Waltham Forest.