Bank of England governor Mr Eddie George said yesterday in a speech in Northern Ireland that Britain's economic outlook was encouraging but that some sectors, such as agriculture and manufacturing, had suffered under rising interest rates. Mr George said he wanted to assure export-reliant businesses that the Bank did not ignore the exchange rate when determining interest rates. However, keeping interest rates on hold would fail to protect the suffering sectors, except possibly in the very short term, and would hurt the economy in the medium and long term.