Business secretary Vince Cable has provided assurance that the coalition will help British companies return to stability by reducing red tape and improving trading conditions.
In a speech given at Mansion House in the City on Thursday, Cable also dismissed criticism of the government’s plans for repairing the UK’s economy.
Instead Cable promised that “vigorous targeted action where the government can make a difference; combined with robust and unsentimental withdrawal from unnecessary inference,” would be taken in the Budget 2011.
Criticism of the government’s growth strategy has been mounting, as figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that the economy contracted by 0.6% in the fourth quarter of last year.
Cable stressed that the government is continuing to look at ways to boost overseas trade to fast-growth markets such as China and India. However, he warned that returning the British economy to growth had been made more difficult as a result of the increase in oil prices caused by the recent political turbulence in Middle Eastern countries.
© Crimson Business. Ltd 2011