Cumbria trade chief's rescue strategy plea
Last updated 14:22, Monday, 06 October 2008
Cumbria's trade chief has demanded the Government come up with a “coherent rescue strategy” for the economy, rather than the current “piecemeal” approach.
Rob Johnston, chief executive of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce, has warned the drop in confidence among businesses sparked by the global crisis had already caused redundancies and would cause more if events continued unchecked.
He has called for a cut in interest rates when the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee meets this week.
Mr Johnston welcomed the part-nationalisation of Bradford and Bingley, but urged Prime Minister Gordon Brown to formulate a plan to aid financial institutions that hit trouble in the future, rather than coming up with policy on the hoof.
He added: “It’s understandable that taxpayers feel aggrieved at bailing out another bank, particularly those who run their own businesses and know they wouldn’t get the same treatment.
“It doesn’t help that when seeking funding, business people have had to justify their businesses to institutions which are proving to have business models themselves that are unsuitable to say the least.
“However, it would be foolhardy in today’s economic circumstances to let a bank go under. The resulting panic and runs by depositors would be a catastrophe.”
He went on: “We will continue to push the Government to have a coherent generalised rescue strategy for financial institutions that get into trouble, rather than the current piecemeal responses.
“In addition we need to see an interest rate cut in October.”
