BoE's Saunders: Recent rise in bond yields has not changed overall financial conditions

"It is likely that unemployment will go up a bit from here but not as much as forecast in February," Bank of England (BoE) policymaker Michael Saunders said on Friday, as reported by Reuters.

Additional takeaways

"We do not target sterling."

"Overall financial conditions, including fx, have not changed that much since the start of the year."

"There are arguments for setting a slightly lower threshold for bank rate before adjusting the balance sheet."

"The recent rise in government bond yields has not changed overall financial conditions."

Market reaction

The GBP/USD pair edged modestly higher following these remarks and was last seen gaining 0.35% on the day at 1.3780.