UK may need more QE, warns Bank of England's Adam Posen

In an interview published by newswire MNSI, Mr Posen also said he was not sure the UK had avoided falling into a Japan-style downturn. "I had been hopeful in the last few months that after we did an additional £125bn [quantitative easing] that was getting close to enough. And now I am debating whether ... I was premature to think that," he was quoted as saying. The Bank restarted its quantitative easing asset purchases last October, but halted the scheme this month having bought a total £325bn of UK government bonds. Mr Posen said he felt the latest round of QE had less impact than the initial £200bn programme, which was why he dropped his call for additional stimulus. But he said he may have underestimated the weakness of Britain's economy, which fell back into recession in the first three months of this year.