The Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney said the Treasury Select Committee on Tuesday that the time for interest rate hike is nearing.

"The point at which interest rates may begin to rise is moving closer with the performance of the economy, consistent growth above trend, a firming in domestic costs, counter-balanced somewhat by disinflation imported from abroad. Once rates begin to adjust, we expect for those adjustments to be at a gradual pace and to a limited extent," he said.

Carney added that interest rates would not move back to the pre-crisis levels.

"I do think there are a variety of factors that mean that the new normal, certainly over the policy horizon over the next three years, is substantially lower than it was previously. I see no scenario in which they would move towards historic levels," the BoE governor said.