The Bank of England (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Member Ian McCafferty said that the U.K. economy staring to return to normal conditions and the time to begin raising interest rate is nearing. The text of his speech was published by the central bank on Friday.

"The economy is starting to return to more normal conditions, after arguably the biggest shock in over a hundred years, and we expect this healing process to continue over the forecast. As a result, the time of the extraordinary policy stance of recent years is gradually drawing to a close," McCafferty said.

McCafferty and Martin Weale voted for an interest rate hike last year.

The MPC member pointed out that the timing of the interest rate hike will depend on the incoming economic data.

McCafferty noted that it is unlikely that low inflation will last for a longer period.