BoE's Carney says will be right to raise rates as slack used up: local newspaper

LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said it would be appropriate to raise interest rates as the slack in Britain's economy is used up, a local newspaper reported on Friday.

Carney said in an interview with the Lincolnshire Echo that the central bank did not have a pre-determined plan to raise rates from their record low level, but reiterated that the time for a rate hike was moving closer.

"We are not on any pre-determined plan, but as slack is used up in the labor market and the economy continues to grow, it will be appropriate to make modest and reasonable adjustments in interest rates, so that inflation stays around that target," he told the Lincolnshire Echo.

Carney on Thursday gave his strongest hint yet about the timing of an interest rate hike, saying in a speech in Lincoln Cathedral that the decision would come into "sharper relief" around the end of the year.

(Reporting by Andy Bruce, editing by David Milliken)

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