Bank of England: Public expect inflation to remain higher over next 12 months

The Bank’s Inflation Attitudes Survey found that people believe inflation will stay at 3.2% for the next year, up from previous predictions.

Simon Neville
Friday 10 December 2021 05:28 EST
The Bank of England’s latest attitudes survey has found people think inflation will remain higher than first thought (Yui Mok / PA)
The Bank of England’s latest attitudes survey has found people think inflation will remain higher than first thought (Yui Mok / PA) (PA Wire)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The public believe inflation is likely to be higher next year than previous expectations, according to a new survey by the Bank of England.

The central bank found that people believe inflation will be around 3.2% over the next 12 months, compared to 2.7% recorded by the same survey in August.

Supply chain disruptions, high energy prices and worker shortages have all pushed up inflation in recent months and led to price rises in stores and for services.

The Bank of England’s Inflation Attitudes Survey also found the public believe inflation will continue to remain higher than previously thought in 2023 and beyond.

Asked about expected inflation in 2023, respondents said they expect it to be around 2.4%, up from predictions of 2.2% in August.

Longer term, respondents said they expect inflation in five years’ time to be around 3.1%. The Bank’s role in setting interest rates is to maintain inflation at between 2% and 3%.

About 37% of respondents said they thought the target was “about right” – a fall from 42% giving the same response in August.

More people said they had seen interest rates on products like mortgages and loans rise in the past 12 months, despite the Bank keeping rates at all-time record lows.

The Bank’s monetary policy committee is set to announce whether interest rates will rise next Thursday.

It remains unclear whether rate rises will be announced, but Governor Andrew Bailey has said they will need to come up soon to manage high inflation, which hit 4.2% last month.

About 60% of respondents said they expect an interest rate rise in the next 12 months, with just 21% saying they expect them to remain the same.

Approval rates for the Bank on whether it was “doing its job to set interest rates to control inflation” fell from 18% in August to just 14% in November.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in