BoE's Carney sees 'uncomfortably high' risk of no-deal Brexit

LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney warned on Friday there is an “uncomfortably high” risk that Britain leaves the European Union with no deal, sending sterling to an 11-day low against the dollar.

Bank of England Governor, Mark Carney, speaks during the central bank's quarterly Inflation Report press conference in London, Britain August 2, 2018. Daniel Leal-Olivas/Pool via Reuters

With less than eight months until Britain leaves the EU, the government has yet to agree a divorce deal with Brussels and has begun talking more publicly about the prospect of leaving the bloc without any formal agreement on what happens next.

Carney said a no-deal Brexit was “a relatively unlikely possibility but it is still a possibility”, adding that it would also be “highly undesirable”.

“I think the possibility of a no deal is uncomfortably high at this point,” Carney said in an interview with BBC radio.

“People will have things to worry about in a no deal Brexit, which is still a relatively unlikely possibility but it is a possibility.”

Consumer prices would likely rise in the case of a no-deal Brexit as companies enacted contingency plans to keep supply chains operating, Carney said.

Sterling slipped to a low of $1.2985 on the comments. GBP=D3

Reporting by Andy Bruce and Costas Pitas; editing by Guy Faulconbridge

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