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. As part of a regular series, this article describes the results of the full annual survey that took place in February 2003. 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 has fallen since last year. But the decline in the approval ratings may have reflected the reduction in awareness of the Bank's policies, when rates were unchanged for a long period.
Published on
20 June 2003
Public attitudes to inflation