Price Expectations and Energy CostsThe monthly Decision Maker Panel showed firms polled in March expected to raise their prices by 3.7% over the next year, the most since October. This rate was up from 3.4% among firms surveyed in February, before the start of the conflict, and represents the biggest month-to-month increase in the rate since April 2024. "More dovish members on the Monetary Policy Committee will likely be tempted to discount that increase as news-driven noise for now. Investors added to their bets on interest rate hikes by the central bank on Thursday and are fully pricing in two quarter-point hikes this year. The BoE survey was conducted from March 6-20, after the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran started on February 28, and received 2,004 responses.

Source: The Guardian April 02, 2026 14:47 UTC