Bank of England's Haldane says UK rates to rise at some point

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England's chief economist Andy Haldane said on Friday that the central bank would raise interest rates in the future but they would probably not return to levels as high as before the financial crisis.

"At some stage, in the future, we expect interest rates to begin their path to, if not back to the old normal levels, the new normal levels, certainly levels north of where we are right now," Haldane told BBC radio in an interview.

"Perhaps the new normal is a 3 or a 4 (percent) rather than a 5 or a 6 or a 7," Haldane said.

In March, Haldane surprised investors when he said there was an equal chance of the BoE's next move being a rate cut or a rate hike.

In his BBC interview, Haldane said Britain's economic growth was "pretty healthy, pretty solid."

(The story removes reference to next BoE move being a rate hike in paragraph 1)

(Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Andy Bruce)