Small business group urges Bank of England to hold back on Interest Rate rise

Small business lobby group the Forum of Private Business (FPB) is urging the Bank of England to hold back from raising Interest Rates this week.

FPB Chief Executive Nick Goulding said that based on what members have been saying a further rate rise is unnecessary.

"People take time to respond to changes in Interest Rates and it is too early to judge the full impact of August's increase. We are concerned that another increase would have an impact on consumer confidence and spending.

"Small businesses want economic stability to enable confident future planning. FPB fully appreciates it is a difficult balance to strike for the Bank of England. The last thing we want is a surge in inflation, but equally we don't want recession. However, on this occasion we would urge the Bank of England to steer clear of a move that would further dent consumer confidence."

Also of interest is an article on the Contractor UK site - "Contractors breath sigh of relief as interest rates look set to end year at 5%" which is of particular interest to any small business owner (or contractor/freelancer) - you can read the article here.