Bank's Besley - Need open debate on fiscal policy

LONDON (Reuters) - There needs to be a clear and open debate on fiscal policy, Bank of England policymaker Timothy Besley said on Thursday.

The government's unprecedently high borrowing levels to fund a bail-out of the banking sector and pull Britain out of recession have led to fears it will be many years before the public finances are returned to a more stable position. Besley also reiterated comments in a speech earlier in the day that the MPC did not have a timeframe in mind for unwinding its quantitative easing policy.

"There is no sense in which there is a specific timing discussion," he said, when asked about QE and how to get out of the policy.