The UK pension system has remained in sixth place globally for the third year in a row. The top pension system is that of the Netherlands, followed by Australia according to latest research.
But Mercer indicates that the ranking hides improvements that have been made to its overall index score which benefited from in projected pensions as well as better saving rates.
However, it is claimed that more reform is needed to ensure that the UK can cope with the pressure of an ageing population.
He said that since August the news on the economic outlook had been overwhelmingly negative.
“I believe that there are very good reasons for thinking that purchases of government bonds in exchange for money created by the central bank will have an impact on a range of asset prices and will influence the cost and availability of credit to the private sector,” he said.
Miles was speaking just hours after the Bank of England made its first purchases since early 2010.
Last week the Bank of England decided to expand its quantitative easing (QE) programme by £75bn to £275bn.
After the decision the Bank’s governor, Mervyn King, said the move was designed to combat what could be “the worst financial crisis ever”.
In his speech Miles argued that inflation was likely to undershoot its 2% target over the medium term in the absence of policy intervention, despite a likely increase to around 5% in the coming months.
He also cited recent research by the Bank, which showed that QE “worked” during 2009-10, raising output and inflation, and argued the effects would be broadly similar again.
“The deterioration of funding conditions suggests to me that asset purchases now could support credit and demand growth,” Miles said.
He said that there were two channels through which QE could work; banks diversifying from gilts into riskier assets and increasing bank deposits.
