THE Bank of England (BoE) plans to assess the implications of a possible British exit from the European Union, it said in a statement, confirming an email it inadvertently sent to a newspaper about the supposedly confidential research project.

    The Guardian reported that an aide to a senior BoE official said in the email the project should be kept secret from most BoE staff and any journalists asking about it should be told the Bank was looking at a broad range of European economic issues.

    British Prime Minister David Cameron has pledged to reshape Britain’s ties with the EU before holding an in-out membership referendum by the end of 2017.

    As with last year’s referendum on Scottish independence, the BoE is keen to avoid any suggestion it is entering a political debate.

    “It should not come as a surprise that the BoE is undertaking such work about a stated government policy,” it said.

    “There are a range of economic and financial issues that arise in the context of the renegotiation and national referendum. It is one of the BoE’s responsibilities to assess those that relate to its objectives.”

    Many British business leaders are worried about the possibility of losing access to their main export markets and there are also concerns about the impact on Britain’s financial services industry.(SD-Agencies)