The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that chief financial officers expect higher inflation this year and next, and cite rising interest rates as a top concern, according to a new Federal Reserve survey. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that the quarterly poll of around 500 firms showed CFOs expected prices to increase an average of 5.3 per cent this year, up from the 4.6-per-cent increase seen in the second quarter and 3.6 per cent seen at the start of the year. Price increases next year were seen averaging 4.5 per cent, compared with 4.1 per cent seen in the second quarter survey. The jump in pricing expectations comes even as CFOs focused less on inflation in their list of top concerns. Instead "monetary policy" was the most cited issue, with around 20 per cent of firms putting it at the top of their list of concerns, compared with less than 15 per cent in the last survey. The survey was conducted Aug. 17 to Sept. 4 across a national sample of firms of all sizes. Overall optimism about the economy among CFOs remained strong, but financing concerns have begun to dim the outlook among smaller businesses, said Sonya Waddell, a vice-president and economist at the Richmond Fed.