Bank of England (BOE) governor Mark Carney Tuesday said a decision on a rise in the bank rate from its historical low of 0.5 percent would be driven by data.

Carney was speaking at the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, where parliamentary lawmakers have an opportunity to quiz the central bank governor on his and the BOE's performance.

Carney said that interest rate rises "would be driven by data."

However, Carney was keen to turn the focus of his answers on the path of future bank rate rises, their frequency and the area in which he expected rate rises to arrive.

Carney emphasised several times that future rises would be "limited and gradual".

He underlined that a return to the pre-financial crisis norm of interest rates at about 5 percent was unlikely and that the rate of rises would not be fast or in big jumps.

Carney said "The most important aspect of the guidance that we're giving is that our view is that the increases in rates over the forecast horizon, in our best estimation, will be limited and gradual."

Members of parliament (MPs) quizzed Carney on his recent Mansion House speech where for the first time he gave a clear indication that interest rates would rise "sooner than markets currently expect."

Most market commentators had pencilled in a rate rise for the first half of 2015, prior to the Mansion House speech, but Carney's speech stirred markets up and led to a rise in sterling.

Some commentators and market players changed their expectations, which was the outcome Carney was looking for he said.

Carney said that expectations prior to the speech that there was a 15 percent likelihood of a rise in the Bank Rate was too low and did not reflect recent data.

"We would like to see the market adjust to the data," Carney told MPs.

He said that he expected markets to now watch and react to data more closely, with an increase in volatility as a result which he described as "healthy".

Recent data has shown earnings growth at a low level, with inflation below target of 2 percent at 1.5 percent, indicating plenty of slack in the economy which Carney said he would like to see taken up.

However, other data points to robust GDP growth, of 0.8 percent for Q1. This figure may be revised upwards on Friday to 0.9 percent (3.2 percent annual growth), indicating that slack is being taken up, along with the strong growth in job figures and the fall in joblessness down from 7.8 percent last summer to about 6.6 percent in the three months to April.