BoE's Dale says new bank funding scheme can make difference - BBC

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England's new scheme to get credit flowing through the economy can make a real difference and help consumers and small business to get credit, BoE chief economist Spencer Dale said on Wednesday.

"The ability for many households, many families and many small companies to access credit has been a major factor dampening our growth over the past couple of years," Dale told BBC Radio Wales.

Unlike other schemes to unblock credit flows in the past, this scheme ran a "chance of making a real difference", said Dale, who is visiting companies in Wales as part of the BoE's annual trip of the nine policymakers to one British region.

Dale also said that lower inflation should ease the squeeze on Britons' budgets and allow them to spend more.

On Tuesday, BoE Governor Mervyn King said the Bank of England is ready to inject more cash into the fragile British economy if recent positive signs fade, also noting fresh dangers from a slowdown in emerging economies.

(Reporting by Sven Egenter; Editing by Peter Griffiths)