(Adds Tenreyro, last paragraph)
LONDON, Nov 5 (Reuters) - The Bank of England's top monetary policy officials see "some need" to raise interest rates to fend off a jump in inflation even if most of them wanted to hold off from increasing borrowing costs this week, the BoE's new chief economist said.
"I think across the committee, there is a recognition that, at least on the basis of today's information, there is some need for action with the Bank Rate," Huw Pill, who voted to keep rates on hold, said on Friday.
The BoE's Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 to keep rates on hold, wrong-footing many investors on Thursday who had expected a first hike since the COVID-19 pandemic hammered Britain's economy last year.
The British central bank said in its November policy statement that it expected it would have to raise Bank Rate from its all-time low of 0.1% "over coming months" if the economy performed as expected.
Sterling and British government bond yields plunged on Thursday and fell again on Friday as investors rowed back on their bets about when borrowing costs might go up.
Pill stressed the differences within the MPC about the need to act were narrow.
Speaking to BoE regional agents in an online briefing alongside Deputy Governor Dave Ramsden, who cast one of the two votes for a rate hike, Pill said he did not want to distance himself from Ramsden's views.
Pill said that "at the margins" he was slightly more concerned about the recent loss of momentum in the economy.
Ramsden said he wanted to act now to counter a recent rise in inflation expectations in Britain.
"That move in the UK above, and materially above, what was a relatively stable historical average, has been something I've been concerned about," Ramsden said. "And it is more apparent than in the euro area in the U.S."
Speaking separately on Friday, fellow MPC member Silvana Tenreyro said the BoE should take a cautious approach to raising rates as the economy remains below its pre-crisis size and the health of the labour market is hard to interpret. (Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Alistair Smout)