Spencer Dale, the Bank of England's chief economist, was on Friday reappointed to the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) for a further three years.

The appointment was made by the governor, Mervyn King, in consultation with the chancellor, Alistair Darling.

Dale, who is also the Bank's executive director for monetary analysis and statistics, has provided a hawkish voice on the MPC in recent months. At the Bank's meeting last November, he was the only member on the committee to call for a pause