Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill said on Thursday that he would be willing to adopt a faster pace of policy tightening if needed, as reported by Reuters.

"My focus of attention will be on indications of more persistent inflationary pressures," Pill added.

Earlier in the day, BOE policymaker Catherine Mann argued that the uncertainty about the inflation process was strengthening the case for front-loading interest rate rises.

Market reaction

The British pound edged slightly higher against its major rivals on these hawkish comments. As of writing, the GBP/USD pair was trading at 1.2007, where it was up 0.65% on a daily basis.