Budget statement imminent… manufacturing related updates will appear here.
Chancellor Alistair Darling is about to reveal the measures through which he hopes to stimulate the economy as a whole and UK manufacturing towards survival now and prospering the other side of the downturn.
The general backdrop to today’s statement:
• Government debt was £90bn last year and is expected to be over £160bn in 2009/10 – the highest ever in peace-time.
• There are now over 2 million unemployed people in the UK
• The cost of Bank bailouts is £1.3 trillion.
• The Economy has now shrunk by 3 per cent – its biggest drop in 60 years.
The manufacturing perspective:
“It is unlikely that any of the tax measures announced on 22 April will have businesses jumping for joy,” predicted Maureen Penfold, head of the manufacturing group at accountancy firm Kingston Smith LLP, last week. “Yet there is hope that the burden of tax liabilities will not get significantly worse,” she said.
So will that be the case in reality?
“Anything from the Government that negatively impacts on cashflow is going to increase that reticence to reinvest and from my perspective one of the largest considerations has to be the taxation treatment of capital equipment,” said Andrew Churchill, MD of JJ Churchill Ltd, precision engineers.
How then will Darling encourage this reinvestment?
Manufacturing-related initiatives from the Budget 2009 to appear here.
Read more budget predictions and concerns here.
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