Chamber writes to chancellor ahead of autumn statement

Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to outline businesses’ expectations for his Autumn Statement. The letter highlights the potential of businesses in Greater Manchester and the wider North West region to deliver growth and create employment opportunities.

The Chamber expects that the Chancellor will miss his deficit reduction target and, as raising taxes or making further public sector cuts would harm the economy and jeopardise the country’s AAA rating, he will have no choice but to revise his timetable.

Dr Brian Sloan, Chief Economist at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “A revision to the deficit reduction timetable offers the Chancellor a window of opportunity to revise his spending priorities and kick start a number of vital infrastructure projects. Capital spending will help revive the construction sector, especially in the regions. Regional growth is something that the Bank of England has failed to support despite two requests from the Chancellor.

“It remains to be seen if the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee will announce an extension to its quantitative easing (QE) programme. An extension seemed inevitable before growth for quarter 3 was revealed at 1%, however the latest indicators for October show we are not yet out of the woods and the economy remains very weak, so there could be more QE. We believe that if the Bank does announce a further extension to the programme, it must be specifically targeted at regional growth, otherwise the Treasury must intervene.”