3rd September 2008
Trades body the TUC has called on the Bank of England to cut interest rates to avoid recession.
The call comes in the wake of a raft of gloomy economic predictions for the economy, including the latest housing and manufacturing data, and comments from Chancellor Alistair Darling that economic conditions were arguably their worst for 60 years.
On Tuesday, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) predicted that the UK economy will shrink in the final two quarters of the year, leading to an overall growth rate for 2008 of just 1.2%. The previous day, the pound hit a record low against the Euro and a two-year low against the dollar.
Adam Lent, the TUC's head of economics and social affairs, said: "The recent spate of bad economic news shows that the great danger is recession, not inflation.
"With little domestic pressure on prices, the bank must start to cut interest rates aggressively, or the slowdown will be far worse than it needs to be."
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, which has kept the Bank interest rate unchanged at 5% for the last four months, makes its next decision on Thursday.
Interest rate cut needed, says TUC
The call comes in the wake of a raft of gloomy economic predictions for the economy, including the latest housing and manufacturing data, and comments from Chancellor Alistair Darling that economic conditions were arguably their worst for 60 years.
On Tuesday, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) predicted that the UK economy will shrink in the final two quarters of the year, leading to an overall growth rate for 2008 of just 1.2%. The previous day, the pound hit a record low against the Euro and a two-year low against the dollar.
Adam Lent, the TUC's head of economics and social affairs, said: "The recent spate of bad economic news shows that the great danger is recession, not inflation.
"With little domestic pressure on prices, the bank must start to cut interest rates aggressively, or the slowdown will be far worse than it needs to be."
The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee, which has kept the Bank interest rate unchanged at 5% for the last four months, makes its next decision on Thursday.
Tags: Retail & Shop
- 5th January 2009 Businesses urged to make redundancies 'last resort'
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- 2nd January 2009 Gloomier forecast from business group
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