Bank of England ramps up staff bonus pool by £1.3m despite inflation surge

The Bank of England handed out an average bonus of just over £5,400 to staff despite inflation expected to rise to more than six times the monetary authority’s target.

The monetary authority upped its bonus pool by around £1.3m over the last year to £23.3m, according to figures obtained by The Observer through a freedom of information request and published over the weekend.

Governor Andrew Bailey and co have a target to keep inflation at two per cent at all times.

Inflation has been above target since July 2021. It is forecast to top 13 per cent later this year. 

The Bank did not respond to a request for comment.

Bailey sparked fury earlier this year when he asked workers not to ask for a big pay rise to prevent high inflation from embedding in the economy.

He earns nearly £600,000 a year, but reportedly rejected a pay rise this year.

The bonus handout was decided earlier this year, when inflation was much lower, City PM understands. However, the Bank was still forecasting the rate of price rises to climb higher above its target.

Bank staff received a bonus of 10 per cent of their salary this year and last year. The bonus pool increased due to the volume of staff at Threadneedle Street increasing to 4,793 from 4,663 over the last year.

The Bank did not respond to a request for comment.