Bank of England governor blames high inflation on retailers

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey has stated that the bank’s top priority is to reduce high inflation.

Making an assessment to the British broadcaster BBC, Bailey pointed out that some retailers in the country apply high prices when necessary.

“If you look at gasoline prices, some sellers are probably charging too much for it (for sale),” Bailey said, noting that the role of oversight agencies is extremely important in preventing retailers from charging unreasonably high prices.

‘FIGHT AGAINST RETAILERS REDUCES INFLATION’

“This (tackling high-priced retailers) will help bring down inflation,” Bailey said.

Assessing England’s economic prospects, Bailey said: “Inflation is very high. Our goal is that prices do not increase more than 2 percent per year, but right now inflation is above 8 percent,” he said.

Stating that he is aware of the negative impact of high home prices, Bailey said: “This (increasing interest rates) will have a bigger impact on young people, young families. I understand that. We want to bring inflation back to where it should be. So we can determine at what level interest rates should be. “If inflation is not addressed now, the situation will only get worse,” she warned.

INTEREST INCREASED BY 50 BASIS POINTS LAST MONTH

Stating that there are signs that inflation will start a downward trend, Bailey said: “I can’t give a date for when interest rates started to decline because it really depends on what happens in the next period. However, the most important thing to do is to reduce inflation,” he said.

The Bank of England (BoE) raised the policy rate by 50 basis points from 4.50 percent to 5 percent last month.

With this increase, the BoE has increased interest rates for the 13th time in a row as part of its tightening policy since December 2021 to reduce inflation.

Annual inflation held steady at 8.7 percent in May, according to data from the country’s National Statistics Office (ONS).

The expectation was that inflation would be 8.4 percent due to falling energy prices. (AA)