(Bloomberg) -- Ben Bernanke said there is growing interest within the Bank of England over publishing its own interest-rate projections, one of the strongest signals yet that the central bank is mulling a major communications shake-up. 

The former Federal Reserve chair said on Wednesday he would be “disappointed” if the BOE did not consider releasing a preferred path for rates and offered to help with any review of the policy.

It suggests that the UK central bank is considering a major shift in how it communicates future policy to investors and households after Bernanke’s review of its forecasting and messaging.

“I think there is a lot of interest in the bank... in implementing these changes, including discussing the one you raised about the rate projections,” Bernanke said in a hearing with lawmakers on the House of Commons Treasury Committee. 

Bernanke made a series of recommendations to the BOE in April after it faced fierce criticism for underestimating the strength of inflation in recent years. 

In the review, he stopped short of recommending that the BOE publishes rate projections like other central banks such as the Fed but said it deserves consideration. Bernanke then suggested on Wednesday that a review into the idea is still on the table despite some rate-setters voicing their opposition. 

“It’s definitely something worth looking at and I would be disappointed if the bank did not seriously review the possibility at some point in the next couple of years,” Bernanke said. “I’ve told the bank that I would be happy to continue to advise and consult to the extent that that would be useful.”

Pressed about his offer later in the hearing, he added: “I haven’t formally made it. I made it in an email to Clare Lombardelli,” the incoming deputy governor, “and she said ‘that would be wonderful.’ My offer is now public. I mentioned it to the governor. I’m sure they’d be happy to have some input from me.”

If the BOE eventually decides to go ahead with rate projections, Bernanke said, “I think rather than the (Fed-style) dot plot, they should have a Swedish or Norwegian style, collective rate forecast that goes into the forecast for the economy.”

Bernanke stressed that the case for releasing interest-rate projections is not a “slam dunk.” A major challenge would be getting the nine members of the MPC to decide on a projection “early enough that it could be used in a forecast.”

Prior to the Bernanke review’s publication, several BOE rate-setters raised doubts over releasing a predicted rate path, particularly one similar to dot plot projections.  

Governor Andrew Bailey said he was in “two minds” about dot plots. External rate-setter Catherine Mann said the BOE does better than them by revealing individual votes and following up with speeches and interviews, while Megan Greene, another external policymaker, warned that investors “do not understand dot plots as they are intended.”

Bernanke’s review said the BOE should be much clearer with markets on future policy, and was damning about “out of date” models and infrastructure.

He told the Treasury Committee that the BOE was distracted from maintaining its infrastructure because it was “putting out” fires and dealing with criticism from MPs and the public. 

The BOE declined to comment. It has previously said it will respond to the review later this year.

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