Bank of England policymaker Swati Dhingra said the economy has already flatlined and about 20% or 25% of the impact of interest rate hikes has fed through to the economy, in an interview with the BBC.

A narrow majority of the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee voted last month to hold interest rates, halting a run of back-to-back increases in borrowing costs since December 2021.

"If growth falls by much more than it expects from here, a cut may happen sooner," she added.

She also said that higher interest rates could ultimately hit younger workers and those on lower incomes the hardest.

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Klamann)