The Bank of England’s governor Andrew Bailey has reiterated his belief that negative interest rates are unlikely to hit the UK.

The Times reports that the former FCA boss, in discussions with the British Chambers of Commerce, urged people not to read too much into recent rumours that rates could fall below zero as a second wave of coronavirus is about to put more pressure on the economy.

The Bank held interest rates last week, but commentators were quick to point to a statement that it had begun “structured engagement on the operation considerations” around a what would happen if a negative rate was enforced.

The paper reports that Bailey told the group: “It doesn’t imply anything about the possibility of us using negative instruments. We have looked hard at the question of what scope there is to cut interest rates further and particularly negative interest rates.

“It would be a cardinal sin if we stated we had a tool in the box, which in practice we didn’t think we could operationally use,” he added. “So it is no surprise we’re going to do this work. It’s going to take time because there’s quite a lot of technical complexity.”

Sweden, Japan, Switzerland, and Denmark have all delivered on negative interest rates. These have been a “mixed bag” according to Bailey.