Interest rate hikes will be "gradual and limited" because headwinds facing the economy are likely to take some time to die down, Mark Carney said yesterday.

The Bank of England governor admitted the point at which interest rates begin to normalise is getting closer but added that rates will need to be generally lower than in the past to keep the economy operating at its potential.

In his address to the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries' general insurance conference at Celtic Manor in Newport, he said: "The precise timing of the first rate rise is less important than our expectation that, when rates do begin to rise, those increases are likely to be gradual and limited."