FSB: cut interest rates to help small businesses
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called for interest rates to be cut this Thursday to help small businesses fight the credit crunch.
Wright: interest rates must be cut
An FSB poll of members revealed that 80% have seen their costs increase and 46% have suffered a decrease in trade in the last year.
A total of 40% said they had seen an increase in cost of loans and overdrafts and 51% reported an increase in payment times from invoicing to full payment.
“These startling figures show that the credit crunch is trickling through to the small business sector," said FSB national chairman John Wright.
"In these tough times it is proving increasingly harder for small businesses to rely on their savings and that is why it is so important for banks to be more willing to lend money and for larger firms to settle invoices on time.
“Small business survival is integral to the wellbeing of the British economy. That is why a cut in interest rates by the Bank of England is crucial. The Bank must set aside worries about inflation and look to giving the economy a vital boost.”
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