BoE's Pill sees risk of persistent inflation, even if gas price fall

LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill said on Monday that Britain risked persistent inflation pressures from a tight labour market, even if natural gas prices stabilise or fall.

"The distinctive context that prevails in the UK - of higher natural gas prices with a tight labour market, adverse labour supply developments and goods market bottlenecks - creates the potential for inflation to prove more persistent," Pill said in a speech to be delivered in New York later on Monday.

"(This) will strongly influence my monetary policy position in the coming months," he added.

The BoE released a text of Pill's comments ahead of the speech he plans to give to the Money Market Association of New York University.

(Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by William Schomberg)