But Mr Rees-Mogg probed the governor over his contacts with George Osborne and what records there had been of their discussions.
Advertisement
The comments came in testy exchanges during Mr Carney’s evidence to the Treasury select committee.
One member of the TSC, the pro-Brexit Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, accused Mr Carney of producing “Treasury propaganda” and of “politicising” the Bank of England through his statements on the economic impact of Brexit.
He added: “It’s very convenient that you are giving out exactly the same propaganda as the Chancellor”.
He also refused to rule out making a further warning just days before the June 23 vote in what could prove to be a decisive intervention from a public servant, who is meant to be neutral during elections.
“I think the crux of the International Monetary Fund view around these issues has already been expressed”.
“I think it’s a detail, candidly” said Mr Carney, arguing that he thought the International Monetary Fund had already made clear its view that leaving the European Union would have a negative short-term and long-term effect on the United Kingdom economy.
Mr Carney confirmed he had had a “series of conversations” with Mr Osborne ahead of the Bank’s quarterly Inflation Report, which raised the risks of Brexit, but stressed that he was “statutorily obliged” to have done so.
Traders saw little new to go on from testimony by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and colleagues in parliament, and dealers cited the abandoning of Brexit bets or hedging by major fund investors for the scale of the gains.
He said the intervention “fundamentally undermines the standing of the Bank of England and its appearance of independence and it appears it has become a creature of the Government”. “There is no possibility of effective influence, even if it had been tried” he said.
The Governor also revealed he was handed an early copy of the Treasury report assessing the impact of Brexit on the United Kingdom economy.
He said it was his job to “come straight with the British pople” over the risks of Brexit.
Mr Rees-Mogg, who has previously called for Mr Carney to resign for his comments on Brexit, said he had received information that the Governor had offered to speak to MPs who had been wavering over the European Union issue.
Advertisement
Carney rejected the analogy, saying: “We have a responsibility to discharge our remit and we have a wider responsibility to the British people, who don’t want risks kept from them”.
