In an interview with Press Association published on Monday, Huw Pill said that inflation at nearly one percentage point above the 2% target – coming in at 2.8% in May – should be considered "problematic".
“I do fear a little bit that, because we saw inflation go to 11%, policy discussion becomes, ‘oh inflation at 3% is not so bad’," he said.
As a voting member of the nine-person Monetary Policy Committee, Pill has gone against the majority to call for a rate hike to 4% at the BoE's two most recent meetings. The committee ultimately decided to keep the Bank Rate on hold at 3.75%, with an 8:1 vote in favour in April and a 7:2 split in June.
“I would emphasise that I’m not dissenting because I want to get my name in the papers, or I want to be a troublemaker on the committee," Pill told the PA.
“Over my time on the MPC, I’ve probably, if anything, erred on the side of supporting the institutional view, even when I had some scepticism about it."
Looking ahead, Pill warned about the lag effect of recent energy price spikes on inflationary pressures in the coming months, despite the peace deal between the US and Iran bringing a supposed end to the conflict and reopening key oil-shipping routes.
"There’s already some inflationary pressure in the pipeline," he said.
Meanwhile, looking back at recent years, with the Bank Rate now well below its mid-2024 peak of 5.25%, Pill said: "I think probably, on balance, it hasn’t been restrictive enough over the last few years."