LONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Bank of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent said Britain's economy stood to benefit from greater confidence in financial markets and among businesses in the United States following the U.S. presidential election victory of Donald Trump.
"You've seen business confidence rise particularly in the United States. You've seen financial markets get more optimistic and I think that has had some impact," Broadbent said in an interview with the BBC's Breakfast TV show due to be broadcast on Friday.
Britain's economy was sensitive to changes in the world economy and stood to benefit from stronger U.S. growth and its impact on other counties, he said.
"So it is a positive thing," Broadbent said.
On Thursday, the BoE raised sharply its forecasts for British economic growth in 2017 to 2.0 percent from its November estimate of 1.4 percent which itself was higher than a forecast of 0.8 percent made by the central bank in August, shortly after British voters decided to leave the European Union.
The Bank said some of the increase was due to a stronger outlook for the world economy.
In his interview with the BBC, Broadbent defended the Bank's weak August forecast - which underpinned a BoE cut in interest rates and further stimulus measures that month - saying it was based on surveys of consumers and businesses which showed confidence tumbling after the shock Brexit vote.
Confidence quickly bounced back and consumer spending proved to be very resilient in the second half of last year, wrong-footing the BoE and almost all private economists.
But Broadbent said 2017 would prove to be a "more challenging environment for households" as inflation rises sharply, pushed up by the fall in the value of the pound since the Brexit vote.
BoE Governor Mark Carney said on Thursday that consumer price inflation was set to hit the bank's 2 percent target this month before rising to a high of 2.75 percent by mid-2018.
(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)