BoE's Bailey: Still unclear if persistent inflation elements consistent with target

LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey on Thursday said it was still not clear if elements of persistent inflation were consistent with maintaining the rate of rising prices at the bank's 2% target.

"Is the decline of persistence now almost baked in, as the global shocks that drove up inflation unwind, or, we'd also require a period with economic slack in the UK economy, or are we experiencing a more permanent change to wage and price setting which would require monetary policy to remain tighter for longer?" he said at a press conference

"These have become important questions in the MPC's policy deliberations."

(Reporting by David Milliken and Alistair Smout, writing by William James, editing by Paul Sandle)