Chancellor Alistair Darling’s speech at the Labour conference in which he pledged to deal with the “extraordinary turbulence” in the financial system has been well received by British businesses.
In his speech Darling said that although the UK economy is currently experiencing “difficult times”, its fundamental strength “means we can be confident about the future”.
The chancellor also reassured delegates that although the UK is currently facing economic uncertainty, the government has the right policies in place to deal with such challenges.
The chancellor remains focused on stabilising the banking system and financial sector and during his speech promised to avoid “knee-jerk reactions” to the crisis.
David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), welcomed Mr Darling’s upbeat approach. “It is important to keep the country’s current economic situation in perspective and we would agree that there should be real confidence in the future of our economy.”
Following the chancellor’s claims that inflation is likely to peak shortly and that oil prices will continue to fall, the BCC renewed its call on the MPC to cut interest rates in October “to offset the chances of a prolonged recession”.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008