The figures come from the Bank of England which surveyed over 3,500 people for its latest quarterly Inflation Attitudes survey.

Interest rates were held at 0.5 per cent this week for the 36^th month.

Some 19 per cent of people thought rates had fallen, down from 22 per cent of people in November.

When given the choice between raising interest rates to keep inflation down or keeping interest rates down to allow prices to rise faster, 59 per cent voted to increase interest rates.

Some 39 per cent of people hoped rates would rise over the next 12 months, 16 per cent said a rise ‘would be best for the economy’ and 24 per cent said a rise ‘would be best for them personally.’

Almost three quarters of people felt that if prices started to rise faster than they do now, the economy would end up weaker.

Regarding inflation, the majority of respondents put the latest figure at 4.8 per cent. The actual figure is 3.6 per cent.

They also expected inflation to fall to 3.5 per cent over the next 12 months. The Bank of England has forecast inflation could fall as low as two per cent by the end of the year.

The next survey will be published in June.