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 3.2% from 3.4% in February, when the previous survey was conducted.
Meanwhile, asked about expected inflation in the 12 months after that, respondents gave a median answer of 3.2%, unchanged from 3.2% in February. Five-year inflation expectations of consumers also remained unchanged (3.6%). Asked to give the current rate of inflation, respondents gave a median answer of 4.7%, down from 4.9% in February.
By a margin of 67% to 5%, survey respondents believed that the economy would end up weaker, rather than stronger, if prices started to rise faster, compared to 71% and 4% respectively in February.
The survey also found that 41% of respondents thought the inflation target was ‘about right’, up from 39% in February. The proportions saying the target was ‘too high’ or ‘too low’ were 33% and 10% respectively.
As for the prospects of the Bank of England's monetary policy, 33% of respondents expected rates to rise over the next 12 months, down from 34% in February. 21% said they expected rates to stay about the same over the next twelve months, down from 23% in February, and 34% said they expected rates to fall over the next 12 months, up from 29% in February.