LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - The Bank of England needs toensure that Britain's banks change their culture and furtherstrengthen their financial safety nets, new governor Mark Carneysaid on Thursday.
"Governor (Mervyn) King and his colleagues made tremendousprogress on improving the balance sheets of the banks. We needto finish the job," Carney said in a BBC radio interview.
"The cultural issue is fundamentally important. There has tobe a change in the culture of these institutions," he added.
On Wednesday the Bank of England broke with tradition byannouncing that it planned to keep interest rates at a recordlow until unemployment falls to 7 percent or below, which itsaid could take three years.
Carney said on Thursday that it was important Britain didnot make the same mistakes as Japan did 20 years ago, when itwithdrew economic stimulus too early.