Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey promised on Monday that prompt action would come from the central bank when needed to help the British economy cope with the hit caused by the Coronavirus outbreak.
Bailey, who succeeded Mark Carny as Governor of the Bank of England earlier in the day, told the BBC in his first public appearance that the Bank of England was very keen to ensure that short-term damage to the economy did not permanently impair Britain's long-term growth prospects.
"That's why you saw prompt action last week, and that's why you will see prompt action again when we need to take it, and the public can be assured of that."
On Wednesday, the Bank of England launched emergency credit measures to prevent a wave of corporate bankruptcy, cutting interest rates to 0.25% from 0.75%. Bailey said the move by six central banks, including the Bank of England, to provide cheap money in US dollars to the financial system was in response to some very large turmoil in the financial markets.
Bailey noted that the impact of this will be monitored in the markets in the coming days, and also stressed the strong coordination between central banks.
