A LEADING member of the Bank of England is guest speaker at a breakfast briefing organised by the Hampshire Chamber of Commerce.

Ian McCafferty, who sits on the bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), will be will join Hampshire Chamber members for breakfast at the Basingstoke Country Hotel on Wednesday May 22 at 7.30am.

Mr McCafferty's role means he has direct input to decisions on the official base rate that underpins the cost of borrowing.

He also has a say in managing inflation targets, quantitative easing and other high-profile measures designed to stimulate growth in the economy.

Maureen Frost, Hampshire Chamber's director of operations and deputy chief executive, said: “It's a golden opportunity for members to ask searching questions on the economic situation to someone who has personal influence on monetary policy.

“Key issues will no doubt include business confidence, support for exporters and whether the new funding for lending scheme is likely to have any real impact on credit conditions for companies.”

To book, email events.north@hampshirechamber.co.uk. For further enquiries, call 01256 338475 or log on to http://tinyurl.com/c38a32p.