The chairman of Tesco has warned of the hardships people will face as a result of rising interest rates.
John Allan told that he was aware millions would face much higher mortgage payments while food and energy prices were already rising.
“We have a moral responsibility to look after the people who are affected by this in the real world,” he said.
It comes after the Bank of England said interest rates may have to rise more than originally expected.
Speaking on the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg program on Sunday, Mr Allan said it was important to focus on how the recent market turmoil and rising interest rates would affect real people.
“The reality is that moving interest rates now will lead to much higher mortgage rates for millions of people,” he said.
“A lot of people, I think, are [already] struggling with the existing elements of the cost of living crisis in food and so on.”
Inflation, which measures how the cost of living changes over time, is rising at nearly the fastest rate in 40 years, driven primarily by rising food and fossil fuel prices. To deal with the rising cost of living, the Bank of England has typically raised interest rates to encourage people to save, but this has also meant that some people with mortgages have seen their monthly repayments rise.
Rising interest rates also make it more expensive to borrow and – it is hoped – people will have less money to spend. As a result, they will buy fewer things and prices will stop rising so quickly.
Rising costs and recent market turmoil are the main challenges facing new chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who admitted his predecessor’s mini-budget went “too far, too fast”.
Hunt, who replaced Kwasi Kwarteng, said in a statement that he was focusing on growth “underpinned by stability” and warned that there would be tax increases and savings in public spending.
On Sunday, Mr Allan said he felt “encouraged” by the new chancellor’s recent remarks.
The boss of the UK’s biggest private sector employer has urged the government to ensure stability after the recent plunge in the value of the pound caused “real problems”.
He also called on Conservative politicians “to take care of those people who are suffering” and to set out a plan demonstrating how they will try to grow the economy.
He said Labor had already put forward some policy ideas to grow Britain’s economy, but added he would like to hear a “concrete plan” from the government.
“I don’t think we’ve seen a plan for growth from the Tories, I hope so… Labour’s ideas are on the table and many are attractive, but there’s only one team on the pitch at the moment.”
Asked if the firm was prepared to absorb more costs to help struggling customers, Mr Allan said the firm already was, pointing to a recent drop in profits.
In early October, the supermarket giant said operating profits at its retail division fell 10% in the six months to the end of August. However, group-wide sales excluding its fuel business were up more than 3%.
The company also announced that staff at its UK stores will receive another pay rise, for the second time this year.
The retailer now expects annual underlying profit across the brand to be between £2.4bn and £2.5bn, which is at the lower end of its previous outlook.
Its chief executive, Ken Murphy, said customers were trying to “make their money go further, whether they’re switching from branded products, across categories or cutting back on eating out”.
“We know our customers are facing tough times and are watching every penny to make ends meet,” he said, although he admitted it was hard to predict how customer behavior might change in the second half of the year.
The Bank of England currently expects cost of living increases to peak at 11% in October and then remain above 10% for several months before beginning to decline.
But its governor, Andrew Bailey, said in Washington on Saturday that it meant a “stronger response” to interest rates than previously thought in August might be needed.
The next rate hike decision is on November 3, days after the government sets out its tax and spending plans.
Mr Bailey said the bank would not take any action on interest rates until this new economic plan was announced, which he described as the “correct sequence” of measures.
But he added that officials would not hesitate to raise interest rates to meet the 2% inflation target.
This comes just weeks after the Bank of England raised interest rates by 0.5% to 2.25% in late September.
