Experienced Investor
Carney: Hold EU referendum “as soon as necessary”
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has warned that the looming prospect of a referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU, and the spectre of a resulting ‘Brexit’, could harm overseas investment in the UK – and that the new Conservative government should hold the vote “as soon as necessary”.
In an interview broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Carney said the EU referendum was already stoking business uncertainty, which could hurt the UK economy in the long term – and that the government should act “with appropriate speed in developing the negotiations.”
While acknowledging that businesses had not yet acted on the concerns they have privately and publicly expressed about an EU referendum by delaying or cancelling spending plans, Carney plainly stated it was imperative that there is “clarity about the process and the question and the decision.”
Carney refused to discuss his personal views on Britain’s EU membership, but he starkly underlined what was at stake in the referendum, noting that the EU “is the largest economy in the world, our largest investment destination and largest investor in the United Kingdom.”
On Monday, YourMoney.com aggregated the views of six leading UK wealth managers on a ‘Brexit’. Click here to view.
