Monetary chief joins Chamber roundtable talks

Dr Swati Dhingra, member of the Bank of England 's Monetary Policy Committee, joined Chamber members for a broad ranging discussion.

The event was organised by the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC) and hosted by GBCC patrons NatWest Bank.

It included attendees from Schumacher, Intercity Technology, Simpsons Gin Bar, the British Independent Retail Association and Eccleston & Hart.

Dr Dhingra is an associate professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, and an Associate of the Centre for Economic Performance at LSE.

She is a director of the Royal Mint Museum and a member of the Steering Group for the UK 's Economy 2030 Inquiry.

Recently, she has also been a member of the UK 's Trade Modelling Review Expert Panel and the LSE 's Economic Diplomacy Commission.

From 1 January 2023, she has taken up the position of director of the Review of Economic Studies.

Graeme Chaplin, Regional Agent for the Bank of England for the West Midlands chaired a discussion which covered a range of topics including interest rates rises, supply chain disruption and how local businesses are responding to labour market shortages.

Raj Kandola, director of External Affairs said: “It was brilliant to host Swati and her colleagues for an informative discussion around the cost of living crisis and how local businesses are standing up to these challenges.

“Firms around the table shared valuable insight on how they are responding to record energy costs and inflationary pressure - it 's great to see the underlying resilience they are displaying in a complex environment.

“The GBCC has a longstanding relationship with the Bank of England so it 's fantastic that our members had the chance to share their feedback directly with a prominent member of the MPC - the body responsible for setting the direction of travel on interest rates. ”