Bank of England economist urges public to “accept” being poorer

He also said that in response to higher bills, among other rising costs, workers in the UK had responded by asking for wage increases, while businesses raise prices on their profits.

Inflation in the UK was at 10.1% in March, down from 10.4% in February. This, however, is still far above the BoE’s inflation target of 2%.

Pill insisted that people demanding pay increases and businesses putting prices up has added to inflation and caused prices to rise even further across the economy.

The government have vowed to cut inflation in half by the end of 2023, although this is in line with accepted projections on where inflation will be at the end of the year.

Huw risks a repeat of scenes seen last year, when BoE governor Andrew Bailey was widely criticised for saying that workers should not ask for big pay rises, in order to try and stop prices rising out of control.

Pill’s comments run the risk of attracting fresh criticism that the BoE is out of touch over the cost-of-living crisis, at a vital time in which public sector workers have been striking as they seek inflation-matching pay rises.