Bank of England's Breeden says cost-cutting by firms helping central bank

Oct 15 (Reuters) - Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden said on Thursday that cost-cutting by UK companies in response to the energy price shock caused by the Iran war would make it easier for the central bank to contain inflation.

"What's really different now, relative to when we had the last energy shock in 2022, is that people aren't looking to push costs through," Breeden said in an interview with CNBC television.

"There's a desire to absorb the shock rather than just pass it on, which makes our job as monetary policymakers a bit easier in these uncertain times."

The comments about cost-cutting by companies echoed those made by BoE Governor Andrew Bailey earlier this week.

Breeden has voted with the majority of the Monetary Policy Committee to keep borrowing costs on hold since the start of the Iran war but said in September that she might change her stance if the energy price shock feeds through into broader inflation.

Investors are pricing a quarter-point rate hike by the BoE next month as a near certainty.

Breeden, in Bangkok for the semi-annual International Monetary Fund meetings, also told CNBC she hoped wages would not rise sharply as they did in 2022 after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine due to weakness in the labour market now.

Earlier on Thursday, BoE Chief Economist Huw Pill said a rate hike by the central bank should not be interpreted by investors as the start of a long series of increases.

(Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Suban Abdulla)