'Mervyn King's defence of inflation target is welcome, but extraordinary' But Save Our Savers, the campaign group, said: "For Mervyn King to defend the inflation target is welcome, but extraordinary. After all, he has had to write 14 letters of apology to the Chancellor explaining why the Bank of England missed it. "With prices rising roughly twice as fast as wages, everybody is being squeezed by the Bank's persistent failure in its main role," Save Our Savers added. The CPI currently stands at 2.7pc, making it almost impossible for savers to make a "real" return on their money one tax and inflation have been taken into account. Many savings accounts pay 1pc or less, while the best rates on long-term fixed rate bonds have fallen dramatically. Many put the blame for falling savings rates on the Bank's own "Funding for Lending" scheme, which gives banks access to cheap loans. This means that they have less need to attract deposits from savers and can get away with offering them lower interest rates. Ros Altmann, the director-general of Saga, said: "It really does seem as if the Bank of England is still trying to make life difficult for savers. Savers have suffered significantly from low interest rates, which have not kept up with inflation, and there seems no end in sight to their plight.