29.11.12
Spend £1.5bn on short-term growth, CBI urges
The Autumn Statement must boost growth whilst sticking to the Government’s deficit reduction programme, the CBI has urged.
Chancellor George Osborne is due to present the Autumn Statement to Parliament next Wednesday.
The CBI suggests that extra resources are available for growth from the £7.8bn underspent last year, as well as the expected £4bn to be raised from the 4G phone network sell-off.
£1.5bn of this should be spent on growth through short-term, high-impact measures, the CBI recommends. Additionally, the organisation is pushing for a business bank and has warned against cutting pension tax relief.
CBI director-general John Cridland said: “Lowering the [tax relief] threshold below £50,000 is not a wealth tax – it's an income tax which would hit swathes of middle-income earners.
“The CBI fully supports the government's deficit reduction plan. This is critical for the UK to keep the confidence of international markets.”
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