“I should not have told households to accept that they are poorer,” admits the head of the Bank of England.

Mr. Pill has previously warned that rising prices have made the entire country poorer and that attempts to raise wages are simply prolonging the agony. Photo: Martin Leissl/Bloomberg News

A senior Bank of England official who urged households to accept being poorer admitted he should have used 'less inflammatory' language.

Hugh Pill, the Bank's chief economist, admitted he should have chosen his words more carefully after telling British families to «admit they are worse off» after the inflation surge.

During an online session question and answer on Monday, Mr. Pill said: “If I could use other words again, I would use slightly different words to describe the problems we all face.

“I think that the viral reaction to my words may not have helped our communication or our understanding of the situation much.”

Mr Pill, who earns nearly six times the average person, came under fire last month for urging workers to stop asking for wage increases as part of efforts to prevent the economy from overheating.

He argued that such demands only increased prices even further and continued to increase them.

Speaking on Columbia Law School's Beyond Unprecedented podcast in April, Mr. Pill said: «[People] need to recognize that they're worse off and stop trying to maintain their real purchasing power by raising prices, whether it's [through] raising prices.» wages or shifting the cost of electricity onto the shoulders of consumers.

«Now we are faced with an unwillingness to accept the fact that yes, we are all worse off, and we all have to take our share.»

< p>Last week, Mr. Pill received a rebuke from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, who disagreed with the chief economist's wording.

After raising interest rates to their highest level since 2008, Mr. Bailey said: «To be honest, I don't think Hugh's words were right.

«And I think he would have agreed with me.»

The Bank of England refused to take responsibility for sustained inflation, although Mr Bailey insisted he was not blaming workers and businesses for high prices.

Instead, the Bank warned that food prices meant inflation would stay high for longer. According to the consumer price index, inflation was 10.1 percent in March.