LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The Bank of England said on Monday it was starting a consultation on government plans, which it supports, to scrap a cap on how high financial sector bonuses can be as a percentage of basic pay.

"The proposed changes should ... help remove unintended consequences that have arisen as a result of the bonus cap, namely growth in the proportion of the fixed component of total remuneration, which reduces firms' ability to adjust costs to absorb losses in a downturn," it said.

(This story has been corrected to add the dropped word 'cap' in the headline)

Reporting by David Milliken; editing by James Davey

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