The former vice chairman of the US Federal Reserve’s board of governors has urged exporters to maintain a “business as usual” attitude in light of the terrorist atrocities in France.

Don Kohn spoke in an exclusive interview at Kent Science Park in Sittingbourne during a tour of the county in his role as a member of the Bank of England financial policy committee.

He said the housing market remains under pressure because of a difficulty for developers to get planning permission and spoke of his enthusiasm for companies in the technology industries.

He said firms which trade internationally must not be deterred by the recent terrorist attacks in Paris and subsequent raids across Europe.

Global markets, he said, remained strong when faced with these threats during 9/11, the London 7/7 and the Madrid bombings.

“The best thing is to act like it’s business as usual..." - Don Kohn, Bank of England

He said: “The attacks were horrible and a terrible situation. It is not clear whether there will be a reaction.

“Unfortunately these things have happened periodically but for the most part they have left a small imprint on the economy.

“Economies have proven resilient to these terrible threats. My hope and expectation is the UK and global economy will continue to be resilient to this kind of violence.

“But I agree it does increase uncertainty.

“The best thing is to act like it’s business as usual. Companies need to be very sensitive to small changes but there is no formula. Every situation and reaction is different and it depends on how this plays out.”

Mr Kohn spoke to various companies at Kent Science Park on Friday, which followed a meeting at catering firm Brakes based in Ashford.

He said: “I do think the local economies are generally in much better shape than they were a few years ago.

“A firm needs to be looking into the future. They need to look at where the markets will be in three to five years. One of the challenges and really interesting things for people like me here in the science park is technology.

“There are a number of fundamental issues in the housing market, in demand relative to supply..." - Don Kohn, Bank of England

“It is transforming all kinds of businesses and the type of people they need to hire.”

Yet he voiced concern about the state of the UK housing market, with the Bank of England financial policy committee examined last year.

The group advised banks to make sure no more than 15% of their loans were at loan-to-income ratios above 4.5 and to test the affordability of their loans if the Bank of England suddenly decided to raise interest rates by 3%.

He said: “There are a number of fundamental issues in the housing market, in demand relative to supply. There are constrictions on supply and there is a difficulty getting permits.

“That is putting upward pressure on house prices throughout the UK.

“Our goal is not to constrain lending but to make sure the lending terms don’t deteriorate and get so loose under the pressure of rising house prices that there are problems coming down the road which would affect the stability of the system.”