The governor of the Bank of England has told MPs it will not be endorsing any views on EU membership or an exit, ahead of the UK's referendum in June.
Mark Carney's unsurprising position of neutrality was confirmed hours after the Bank announced it was putting in place precautions to ensure markets kept working smoothly around the time of the vote, by giving lenders access to extra cash if needed.
The Treasury Select Committee also released, ahead of its questioning of Mr Carney, the text of a letter in which the Bank set out its views on how its statutory objectives were affected currently by the EU and how this might change should Brexit be supported.
It essentially said that remaining inside meant the UK was more dynamic but integration left the country more vulnerable to financial shocks - the same position it adopted last year.
After Mr Carney said the Bank would not be taking sides, he was accused by committee member and 'Leave' campaigner, Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, of giving a speech last year "coming out with the standard statements of the pro-EU group" - a claim Mr Carney denied saying "I'm not going to let that stand."
He told the committee that its analysis was limited to the financial and monetary stability - with no assessments carried out on the potential impact on jobs and wages in the event of an EU exit.
The governor added he could not give any "blanket assurance" there would not be issues in the short-term on financial stability, which "would be associated with poor economic outcomes as we have seen in the past."
