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Rishi Sunak admitted inflation is not falling as quickly as hoped but urged the public to “trust me” to bring it down.
The Prime Minister insisted there is “light at the end of the tunnel” after it dropped to 7.9 percent in June.
But he was challenged during an LBC phone-in by a father-of-four who is facing a monthly mortgage payment increase of £1,300.
Mr Sunak replied: “It’s inflation that’s causing everyone problems with their bills, it’s inflation which means the Bank of England is having to put up interest rates.
“And the quicker we get inflation down, the quicker we can ease some of these pressures, and that’s why you’ve got to trust me, you’ve seen me do it during the pandemic, I know how to manage the economy for everyone, I will bring inflation down.
“I will make the decisions that are necessary – which are not easy – but you can trust me to do that on your behalf and everyone else’s.
“Because the quicker we bring inflation down, the quicker we can start bringing interest rates down and ease that pressure for homeowners like you.”
Interest rates have risen to five percent in the battle to control inflation. The Bank of England is this Thursday expected to impose its 14th consecutive rise in the base rate.
Most economists expect its Monetary Policy Committee to announce a 0.25 percent increase.
The last time the base rate stood at 5.25 percent was in March 2008.
Mr Sunak told LBC’s Nick Ferrari: “I know families are struggling with the cost of living and that’s why I set it out as my first priority to halve inflation, and we’re making progress.
“Is that as fast as I’d like? No. Is it as fast as anyone would like? No. But the numbers most recently that we had show that we’re heading in the right direction, inflation is coming down, and I think people can see light at the end of the tunnel.
“But, look, we’ve got to stick to the plan, it’s not easy to bring down inflation. It requires me to make difficult but responsible decisions on behalf of the country.
“They’re not easy, I get flak for them, but I’m going to do them because they’re the right thing for everybody in the long-term, and I’m determined to stick to the course and bring down inflation for everyone.”
