Just one quarter of the public feel Bermuda?s economy is moving in the right direction.

And 45 percent say they feel it is going in the wrong direction, according to a Research Innovations public opinion survey conducted for in March.

The statistics mark a dramatic fall in public approval over the economy. In January, 40 percent of the public were happy with the direction of the economy.

It appears concerns over rising prices are the heart of the decline, a Bermuda College lecturer said.

In pre-Budget and post-Budget polls, Research Innovations asked respondents by telephone: ?In general, would you say the economy is moving in the right or wrong direction??

In the pre-budget poll of 401 people that was conducted between January 17-20, 40 percent of respondents gave a thumbs up on the economy while a slight majority, 41.6, gave a thumbs down. 17.8 percent were unsure.

But the post-Budget telephone poll of 407 people that was conducted between March 17 and March 21 found more uncertainty and less positive feeling. This time, just 26.5 percent of those polled said the economy was heading in the right direction. While 28.5 percent were not sure almost the same percentage of people as in the pre-budget poll, 45 percent, said that the economy was moving in the wrong direction. The margin of error in both polls is 4.9 percent.

When presented with the figures from the two polls, Bermuda College economics lecturer Craig Simmons said that the public discontent is more likely linked to inflation figures released in January rather than the ?sweetheart budget? handed down by Premier Scott?s government in February.

Bermuda?s annual rate of inflation in January passed the four percent mark for the first time since 1991 due partly to rising oil prices driving up the costs of electricity and gasoline. The jump to 4.1 percent from 3.8 percent in December also marked the first increase in the rate of inflation since November last year.

?The inflation figures for January may have caught people off guard,? Mr. Simmons said. ?I would think that people had underestimated the impact of inflation and that underestimation has a major bearing on the wage settlements they would be seeking so it could be the case that there is an expectation that real wages will fall this year.?

There was little variance across income lines when it came to the economy. In the March poll, 23.2 percent of persons living in households with incomes below $50,000 felt the economy was headed in the right direction while 40.2 percent felt it was moving in the wrong direction and 36.6 percent were undecided. Of those in the middle bracket ? households earning $50,000-$100,000 ? 26.9 percent approved of the direction of the economy whole 50.9 percent disapproved and 22.2 percent were undecided. Of those in households taking in over $100,000, just 21.6 percent approved of the economy while 37.3 percent disapproved and 41.2 percent were undecided.

Mr. Simmons said signals for inflation lead people to worry about the state of the economy, including the effect inflation will have on management-worker relationships as well as baseline inflation that businesses will have to pass that onto customers.

?The economy is overheated and the Budget did nothing to move the economy in the opposite direction. If anything, it only further aggravated the situation with spending up, especially capital spending,? he said adding that such capital spending means the construction industry will remain heated and, combined with other trends such as rising fuel prices, he expects inflation will continue to rise throughout the calendar year.

Research Innovations pollsters also asked respondents whether they were satisfied or dissatisfied with this year?s Budget. 45.5 percent of the 407 respondents said they were satisfied with the Budget compared to 26.8 percent who said they were dissatisfied and 27.8 percent who were not sure.

Males were far more likely than females to approve of the Budget with 57.6 percent of men saying they were satisfied while 26.1 percent said they were dissatisfied and 16.4 percent saying they were not sure. Just 37.6 percent of females approved of the Budget while 27.4 percent disapproved and 35 percent were not sure.

Older people were slightly more likely to find satisfaction in the Budget with 50.3 percent of those age 55 plus expressing satisfaction and just 22.4 percent expressing dissatisfaction. In the 18-35 bracket 40.4 percent of respondents were satisfied while 34 percent were not. This compares to 42.7 percent of satisfied and 27.3 percent of dissatisfied 36-54 years olds.

In households earning over $100,000 56.9 percent of respondents were satisfied while just 15.7 percent were dissatisfied. Of those taking in $50,000-$100,000, 46.2 percent were satisfied and 28.8 percent were dissatisfied compared to 39.3 percent of satisfied and 26.8 percent of dissatisfied respondents in households taking in below $50,000.

Across colour lines, 45.8 percent of blacks and 46.6 percent of whites and 20 percent of those of mixed race expressed satisfaction with the budget. 24.1 percent of blacks, 32.2 percent of whites and 30 percent of those of mixed race were however dissatisfied with the Budget.