BoE's Bailey: Many companies likely to come out of COVID with high debt levels

Many companies in the UK are likely to come out of the coronavirus crisis with higher debt levels than they are comfortable with, Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey said on Friday.

Furthermore, BoE Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden noted that their forecast for investment in the UK is pretty subdued but added that it's possible to see upside risks.

Finally, "we are likely to see more online spending and working from home than pre-COVID," BoE Chief Economist Andy Haldane added. "The UK housing market and construction sector have been on a real roller-coaster."

Market reaction

The British pound showed no reaction to these remarks and the GBP/USD pair was last seen gaining 0.2% on the day at 1.3697.