The results of the Bank of England's latest quarterly survey of public attitudes to inflation showed that median expectations of the rate of inflation over the coming year fell to 3.0% from 3.3% in November, when the previous survey was conducted.
Meanwhile, asked about expected inflation in the 12 months after that, respondents gave a median answer of 2.8%, unchanged from 2.8% in November. Five-year inflation expectations of consumers fell by 0.1% compared to November, to 3.1%. Asked to give the current rate of inflation, respondents gave a median answer of 6.1%, down from 7.5% in November.
By a margin of 69% to 5%, survey respondents believed that the economy would end up weaker, rather than stronger, if prices started to rise faster, compared to 69% and 6% respectively in November.
The survey also found that 40% of respondents thought the inflation target was ‘about right’, down from 41% in November. The proportions saying the target was ‘too high’ or ‘too low’ were 31% and 11% respectively.
As for the prospects of the Bank of England's monetary policy, 36% of respondents expected rates to rise over the next 12 months, down from 44% in November. 26% said they expected rates to stay about the same over the next twelve months, down from 29% in November.