Most British people expect the Bank of England to raise interest rates again over the next 12 months, in line with indications given by the central bank, a BoE survey showed on Friday.
The BoE said 58 percent of people surveyed between Feb. 7 and Feb. 18 said they expected rates to rise, compared with 63 percent in its last poll conducted in November, just after the BoE raised rates for the first time in more than a decade.
Last month BoE Governor Mark Carney said rates might need to rise sooner and by somewhat more than the central bank had expected to get inflation back to target.
British consumer price inflation rose to its highest in more than five years in November at 3.1 percent, and stood at 3.0 percent in January. The BoE expects inflation will remain above its 2 percent target for the next couple of years.
Friday’s poll showed no change to households expectation for inflation over the next two years, with expectations holding at 2.9 percent for the next 12 and 24 months.
A Reuters poll on Thursday showed that a majority of economists expected the central banks to raise interest rates next in May, and financial markets see a high chance of a further increase before the end of the year.
Source: UK Reuters