Financial Planners have shared concerns about the potential impact of a further rate rise by the Bank of England.

A further rise could be disastrous for the personal finances of many and may fail to curb rising inflation, according to Financial Planners Financial Planning Today spoke to.

Adrian Kidd, Chartered Wealth Manager at EQ Financial Planning, said he hoped that the Bank of England would avoid raising the base rate this month.

He said: "There are huge economic decisions to be made right now and the terrible situation in the Ukraine has muddied the waters further. I hope the Bank of England chooses to sit tight as too much tightening will lead to an even worse fate, namely recession.

“With higher fuel prices, the National Insurance increase, expensive gas and electricity bills, higher mortgage rates than three months ago and higher costs for trains and food, there is obviously less disposable income available to spend. A further squeeze on the consumer isn't necessary right now in my view. Central Banks cannot say it out loud but this inflation is also good for the debt on their balance sheets."

Scott Taylor Barr, financial adviser at Carl Summers Financial Services, agreed that any rise in the base rate at the moment would be a mistake.

He said: "Energy price rises, fuel price rises, tax increases, food price rises, seemingly everything is on the way up. But the issue is that the biggest price increases are on essentials, not things we choose to buy. So is adding to what is widely touted as the biggest decrease in our standard of living for decades by increasing interest rates really that helpful?

“Inflation isn't rising because we're all feeling flush and spending our money on luxuries, it's rising because the essentials of modern life are all skyrocketing. Fingers crossed that the Monetary Policy Committee see that and don't add to the misery, as increasing people's mortgage payments isn't going to bring down the price of petrol."

Scott Gallacher, director at Rowley Turton, said increasing interest rates to control inflation is the wrong policy at the wrong time.

He said: “Current UK inflation is primarily being driven by external international factors such as rising gas and oil prices and Chinese supply issues due to Covid. Hence, trying to dampen domestic demand, and therefore inflation, by increasing interest rates seems naive at best. The cost of living crisis will more than dampen UK consumer demand. And UK consumers don't need a double whammy of rising mortgage payments and rising bills."