Britain would be better off in the EU, even though membership exposed the U.K.’s economy to severe shocks in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the president of the Bank of England argued Wednesday night.

“EU membership reinforces the dynamism of the U.K. economy,” Mark Carney said in a speech at Oxford University aimed at explaining the financial implications of a Brexit. “A more dynamic economy is more resilient to shocks, can grow more rapidly without generating inflationary pressure or creating risks to financial stability, and can also be associated with more effective competition.”

Carney focused on how Britain’s referendum could affect the bank’s mandate to maintain stable economic growth and a stable currency, keep inflation steady at around 2 percent and prevent prices from fluctuating dramatically. His bottom line was that remaining in the EU would make those tasks easier.

“A dynamic, resilient domestic economy will enhance the prosperity of the people of the U.K. and beyond,” Carney said.

Earlier this year, the bank’s press director mistakenly emailed documents to an editor at the Guardian detailing a bank secret task force codenamed “Project Bookend” and charged with researching the hypothetical financial aftermath of a Brexit.

Carney presented the group’s findings publicly, emphasizing that his opinions weren’t political. He repeated himself twice, saying: “This report it is not a comprehensive assessment of the pros and cons of the United Kingdom ‘being in Europe.’ “

Since Britain joined the EU, Carney found it has had among the fastest growth rates per capita in the G7, the group of seven advanced economies. He also underlined the benefits EU membership have brought to the British financial industry, pointing out that more foreign banks operate in the country than anywhere else in the bloc, and more than half of the world’s financial firms have their EU headquarters in Britain.

“In some respects, the U.K. is the leading beneficiary of the famous ‘Four Freedoms’ first set out in the 1957 Treaty of Rome,” Carney said, referring to the freedom of movement of goods, services, people and capital at the heart of the EU’s founding documents.

But Carney tempered his remarks, saying that the U.K.’s membership in the bloc does leave the country vulnerable to more dangerous economic tumult.

“Although openness supports dynamism, integration also brings greater exposure to foreign shocks,” Carney said.

He continued: “The complexity of financial linkages can grow and become more opaque, creating new vulnerabilities and more severe shocks.”

Even if Carney was attempting to keep out of the political debate, his words have shifted votes in a U.K. referendum before.

One week ahead of the Scottish independence referendum that threatened to split up the country in 2014, Carney said that the bank wouldn’t help an independent Scotland keep the pound.

Pointing just across the Channel at the eurozone’s cumbersome handling of its sovereign debt crisis, Carney argued that sovereignty and currency unions simply don’t belong together.

“That’s just the economics of it,” he said at the time.

In Brussels, Carney’s words on Wednesday were immediately met with delight from the In campaign.

“The Bank of England’s intervention confirms what we already know,” said Catherine Bearder, the chair of the Liberal Democrat EU referendum campaign and a member of the European Parliament.“Being in the EU brings huge benefits to the U.K. economy.”