Public satisfaction with Bank of England falls to record low

investmentweek.co.uk:

Even during the Global Financial Crisis, opinions of the Bank of England remained positive

After the central bank saw its first ever net negative approval rating last year, its reputation has continued to decline among the general public, the BoE's latest quarterly survey revealed last week (15 September).

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The survey, which was sampled between 4 and 7 August, found that only 19% of the public was satisfied with the BoE's performance in fighting inflation compared to 40% dissatisfied, the lowest since records began in 1999.

Even during the Global Financial Crisis, opinions of the Bank of England remained positive, with its low point seeing 38% satisfied to 28% dissatisfied in February 2009.

When asked what would be ‘best for the economy', 40% called for interest rates to be cut, the highest number since November 2008, while only 13% said rates should be hiked.

Despite this, 63% of respondents expected rates to rise over the next year, up from 57% in the previous survey in May.

Meanwhile, the public's estimate of the current rate of inflation declined from its peak last quarter, falling to 8.6% from 9.6% in May.

In July, the month before the survey was conducted, the Consumer Price Index rose by 6.4%, according to the Office for National Statistics.

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In the short term, inflation expectations climbed up, rising from 3.5% in May to 3.6% over the coming year and jumping from 2.6% to 2.8% in the year after that.

However, inflation expectations over the next five years declined slightly, easing from 3% to 2.9%, their lowest since May 2021.

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