Only 18 percent of the public think the Bank of England is doing a good job, but a majority still think politicians should not be given control of monetary policy.
According to Public First polling data, only 18 per cent respondents feel the bank is doing well. 36 per cent said its performance is poor and the rest have no opinion on the same.
Conservative voters and young adults were more likely to think the crisis-hit central bank is doing a good job.
The bank has come under pressure for its misrepresentation of inflation as transitory – a mistake made by almost all central banks around the world.
As a result, central banks have been slow to raise rates and inflation reached a multi-decade high of 11.1 percent in October last year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
While many economies have faced similar problems, inflation in the UK remains higher than in many Western economies and the bank has repeatedly forecast it will decline.
The US core inflation rate has come down sharply to 3.3 per cent while it is at 5.3 per cent in the European Union. However in UK it is 6.8 per cent. A recent report suggested that inflation would remain above the Bank’s target until 2025.
Reflecting on its failure to predict the continuation of price increases, it has brought in ex-Fed chairman Ben Bernanke to lead a review of its forecasting models.
Despite difficulties in getting inflation under control, 56 percent of respondents said the bank should retain its freedom to set interest rates. Only 23 percent said that control over interest rates should be returned to the government, as it was before 1997.
James Frain, founding partner at research agency Public First, said: “The Bank of England has been lambasted by politicians and commentators for months and its reputation has been clearly damaged.” But Frayne said the data indicated people still trusted the bank more than “government politicians”.
He further added, “Although people are feeling severe pain from high interest rates, people are afraid to keep politicians in check.”
A Bank of England spokesman said: “We know that people are unhappy with the level of inflation. Therefore, our entire focus is on bringing it back to the target of two per cent.
Source: www.cityam.com
