Carney knows the Bank of England is out of options – but that won't stop it cutting rates

Two important and contradictory stories about the Bank of England have come out in the past fortnight. The first came when Mark Carney, who finishes his tenure as the BoE's governor in March, admitted to the Financial Times that central banks were running out of ways to fight recession. Carney even suggested it was time for governments to consider using their fiscal arsenals to tackle downturns – though he did stop short of anything concrete, because, in his words, "it's not [central bankers'] job to do fiscal policy".

The second story came a few days later, when news came that BoE policymakers were considering cutting interest rates again should the economy fail to bounce back after a dismal performance towards the end of last year. Carney said in a speech two days after the FT interview that the central bank was prepared to take "prompt" action if things don't improve.

Carney seems to know the horse he's flogging is dying – though he doesn't think central banking is a spent force yet. What else is there to be done? All eyes on Sajid Javid: March's Budget will determine whether the government will rise to the challenges ahead.