United Kingdom | Friday, 5 September 2008
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Brown hopes Bank can cut interest rates further

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Posted 15 May 2008 @ 09:57 pm GMT

Prime Minister Gordon Brown denied on Thursday that his tax policies were breaking the government's fiscal rules and said he hoped the Bank of England would be able to cut interest rates further.

Asked whether he wanted interest rates to be cut again, he told the BBC: "I hope we will be able to do so but I've always said that this is a matter for the Bank of England."

On Wednesday, the central bank revised up its inflation forecasts and suggested there was little scope for further monetary easing. The bank has already cut interest rates three times since December, bringing them down to 5.0 percent.

Brown rejected suggestions that surprise tax cuts announced earlier week flouted rules set when he was finance minister to keep a tight rein on government borrowing. "I don't accept that ... we have not broken the rule," he said.

(Reporting by David Clarke and Christina Fincher; editing by David Stamp)

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