BANK of England policymaker David Walton has died unexpectedly after a short illness, the Bank said yesterday.
Mr Walton was a member of the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which sets UK interest rates each month. He travelled to the North-East last month on a fact-finding mission, where he met manufacturers and other businesses.
He visited Piercebridge, near Darlington, Stockton, Bishop Auckland and Newcastle on his two-day tour.
The Bank said yesterday: "It is with great sadness that the Bank of England has learnt that David Walton died yesterday evening, unexpectedly, after a short illness."
Mr Walton, 43, joined the MPC in July last year after working for the Treasury as an economist between 1984 and 1986 and then at Goldman Sachs.
The MPC is responsible for setting interest rates to meet the Government's inflation target and this month.
Chancellor Gordon Brown said he was deeply saddened by the news.
He said: "David Walton made a great contribution to economics and economic policy making in this country and I am deeply saddened by his sudden and early death."
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