As part of a regular series, the market research agency NOP has been carrying out quarterly and annual surveys of public attitudes to inflation on behalf of the Bank since November 1999. This article describes the results of the full annual survey which took place in February 2002. It shows that public opinion remains fairly stable on most issues, though expectations of future interest rate movements do of course fluctuate. Those who think rates should stay where they are remain the largest group, but among the rest, the public was evenly divided over whether it would be better for Britain’s economy for rates to rise or fall over the next few months. The proportion satisfied with the way the Bank is doing its job of setting interest rates is very little changed from November.
Published on
18 June 2002
Public attitudes to inflation