The Bank of England's programme of regional public engagement is visiting Sussex, where members of the Monetary Policy Committee will hear directly from residents about the pressures on household budgets and the outlook for the local economy.
The event, in Brighton, is part of a series that has taken the Bank's policymakers to every part of the United Kingdom. The Sussex economy has particular characteristics that make it an important location for the Bank's engagement programme: a high proportion of small businesses, a significant tourism and hospitality sector, and a housing market that is among the most expensive in the country outside London.
The combination of high housing costs and the prevalence of employment in sectors where wages tend to be below the national average means that the cost of living pressures that are being felt across the country are particularly acute in Sussex. The Bank's regional agents have reported that households in the region are more likely than the national average to have reduced their spending in response to higher prices and interest rates.
The MPC member attending the event said the Bank needed to understand how its decisions were affecting different communities in different ways. "Monetary policy is a blunt instrument," he said. "We set one interest rate for the whole country. But the effects of that rate are felt differently in different places, and we need to understand those differences if we are to make good decisions."
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