LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - The British economy has probably started growing again but recovery will be slow and risks to inflation are still to the downside, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said on Tuesday.
King also defended the work of the BoE Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) after criticism from former member David BlancHflower, who said King dominated it with his hawkish views on interest rates.
"Falls in output have broadly come to an end and we are beginning to see some very small signs of positive growth," King told parliament's Treasury Committee.
"It is important to remember that the very small positive growth rates or small falls in output in other countries in the second and possibly third quarter are really very small in comparison with a sharp fall in output that took place at the end of last year and beginning of this," he added.
"So there is a long way to go before the level of output gets back to where it was."
Britain, facing a general election by next June, is struggling to pull out of its deepest recession since World War Two.
Writing in the New Statesman magazine last week, Blanchflower criticised King for ignoring his early warnings about looming recession last year.
King said Blanchflower's account did not coincide with his own recollections.
"... (Blanchflower) has chosen to make a statement of this kind and he is entitled to do this. I think it was unwise and not sensible for someone on the committee to do that."
British consumer price inflation slowed less than expected in August as transport costs rose, partly offsetting a downward impact from utility bills and food prices, official data showed on Tuesday. [ID:nLF386677]
Inflation has fallen more slowly in Britain than in other countries, but the Bank of England reckons the large amount of spare capacity built up during the recession will bear down on prices for some time to come and could push it even further below its 2 percent target. (Editing by Andy Bruce)