UK businesses are reluctant to make large investments in machinery and new technology while barriers to trade with the EU remain in place and interest rates are high, according to a survey by the British Chambers of Commerce.
The business lobby group said the vast majority of respondents to its quarterly economic survey had frozen or cut investment plans while only 23% said they were considering fresh injections of cash to improve the way they operated.
In a signal that pause in business investment dating back to the Brexit vote in 2016 was still in place, 59% of the 5,000 respondents reported no change and 18% saw a decrease.
He said uncertainty about the government’s plans for infrastructure developments and the threat of further customs checks at the EU border were also holding back investment.
This is in part a reflection of broader uncertainty, with little clarity on major long-term projects and yet more trade barriers to come with the EU,” he said.
The expectation among businesses that inflation will be lower than forecast earlier in the year is likely to further ease pressure on the central bank to raise rates at its next meeting in November.
The original article contains 421 words, the summary contains 197 words. Saved 53%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
UK businesses are reluctant to make large investments in machinery and new technology while barriers to trade with the EU remain in place and interest rates are high, according to a survey by the British Chambers of Commerce.
The business lobby group said the vast majority of respondents to its quarterly economic survey had frozen or cut investment plans while only 23% said they were considering fresh injections of cash to improve the way they operated.
In a signal that pause in business investment dating back to the Brexit vote in 2016 was still in place, 59% of the 5,000 respondents reported no change and 18% saw a decrease.
He said uncertainty about the government’s plans for infrastructure developments and the threat of further customs checks at the EU border were also holding back investment.
This is in part a reflection of broader uncertainty, with little clarity on major long-term projects and yet more trade barriers to come with the EU,” he said.
The expectation among businesses that inflation will be lower than forecast earlier in the year is likely to further ease pressure on the central bank to raise rates at its next meeting in November.
The original article contains 421 words, the summary contains 197 words. Saved 53%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!