The slowdown in salary expectations cannot offset the impact of energy inflation. The hope of the Bank of England cutting interest rates in March has been shattered. Prior to the outbreak of the Persian Gulf conflict, inflation and salary expectations of British companies were gradually approaching the Bank of England's targets. However, according to the bank's regular survey of chief financial officers, these indicators are still at unsettling highs. The "Decision Making Group" survey released on Thursday found that the surveyed companies' expectations for salary growth in the next year remain unchanged at 3.6%. However, this data is expected to drop to the lowest level since the survey was launched in July 2022 next month. Based on the average expectation for the three months ending in February, the latest reading shows that salary growth will significantly slow down from the actual increase of 4.3% in the past year. The expected values for January and February are both 3.5%. Nevertheless, this figure is still higher than the Bank of England's estimate of 3.25%, which is considered consistent with the 2% inflation target. The recruitment plan has slightly improved, but has been hovering around zero growth for months. Economist Rob Wood said, "Overall, we believe there is almost no basis to support the Monetary Policy Committee's multiple rate cuts this year. We expect the next rate cut to be in April, but we maintain our forecast of only one rate cut this year