The comments, in separate media interviews, will do little to settle the debate over whether the BoE will tighten or loosen policy next, faced with a tricky combination of above-target inflation and concerns about the sustainability of the recovery.

However, Miles’ comments suggest he is in no hurry to withdraw any stimulus. Fellow policymaker Adam Posen, who has voted for more QE since October, has yet to convince the other eight MPC members of the need to do more to secure recovery.

Most analysts expect policymakers to hold fire on any policy moves for several months to come, leaving interest rates at a record low of 0.5 percent and freezing a 200 billion pound quantitative easing program.

“If we need to, we have not run out of ammunition,” Miles said in an interview with the Northern Echo newspaper published on Thursday. “The last thing that we want to do is to take actions which knock the recovery on the head.”

“But we are also determined to bring down inflation which has been sitting above our target rate for well over a year. It is a delicate balancing act.”

Inflation has been above its 2 percent target throughout this year and is expected to remain high for some time to come, not least because of a hike in VAT sales tax next year.

BoE Governor Mervyn King has said inflation has been strong because of one-off factors which will eventually fade and the central bank’s forecasts show inflation below its target on the two-year horizon that policymakers use to set policy.

While Britain’s economy has expanded at a surprisingly strong rate this year, analysts expect government spending cuts to sting from next year and also point to risks to the global recovery as a reason to keep monetary policy loose for now.

Sentance, who has been the sole voice on the MPC voting for a quarter-point hike since June, said it was important to factor in the Irish crisis and the UK’s austerity drive, but he argued the global economy was doing better than many had expected.

“My position is we need to gradually raise interest rates and move away from the very low interest rates that we put in place to combat the recession as we get into the recovery, particularly with inflation running above target,” he told BBC Radio Ulster. “The speed with which we do that will need to take into account how conditions evolve in the economy and the progress we make in the recovery.”