“Although borrowers will be relieved by today’s decision, many people will be concerned about the impact of rising inflation on their finances. The prevailing interest rate is still far lower than the inflation rate, and therefore the value of cash savings will continue to erode over time. Long-term savers should consider long-term investing as an alternative to keeping money in cash or savings accounts.”
Douglas Grant, Group CEO at Manx Financial Group PLC:
“Businesses across the UK will breathe a sigh of relief for now…… Rising interest rates, higher inflation and lower UK GDP are regrettably just round the corner though. Both raw material and labour costs are set for an upward trajectory which will have to be passed on to the consumer. Otherwise, this will have a negative impact on firms’ working capital, something which is already scarce due to disrupted supply chains and the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) recently suggested that the UK’s economy had been plunged into a supply chain crisis, with major retailers’ stock levels at their lowest since 1983 as a result of worker shortages and transport disruption caused by Covid, the Suez Canal blockage in March and Brexit. At Conister we currently have several instances involving significant advances across many sectors which are unable to proceed as a result of supply chain holdups, hence stalling any potential growth.
“We believe that demand for working capital in the UK is set to soar to unprecedented levels as more and more businesses desperately need capital to counteract supply chain issues and keep operating while adapting to life outside of the EU bloc. We are already experiencing a debt burden for UK SMEs which has ballooned to record levels and unfortunately already created a relentless flow of weak zombie-like companies falling off a loan default cliff. It is imperative that we support sectors and businesses that are strong and nimble enough to adapt to the new economy and therefore continue contributing to its growth.
“The introduction of the Recovery Loan Scheme (RLS), which Conister has accreditation for, will act as second support system for those businesses currently struggling with working capital but with long term growth potential. We have been pleased to see the Government look beyond the obviously more resilient business sectors and introduce the RLS which can support those businesses that have been mostly negatively impacted by Covid-19, such as the hospitality and leisure sectors. Conister will continue to do all it can, working alongside the Government and traditional lenders, to support businesses.”
Paul Jackson, Global Head of Asset Allocation Research at Invesco:
“The Bank of England made no policy changes on 4 November 2021, leaving its policy rate (Bank Rate) at 0.1% and asset purchase target at an aggregate £895bn. Ahead of the meeting, financial market pricing suggested that market participants believed there was a greater than 50% probability of a rate hike. Hence, it is not surprising that sterling depreciated after the announcement, losing a cent against the US dollar (to 1.3541) and nearly a cent versus the euro (to 1.1713).
“The biggest headline is that the BOE expects inflation to reach 5% in the Spring of 2022, though it forecasts a decline thereafter (to 2.2% by the end of 2023). Not surprisingly, it says interest rates will need to rise to meet its 2% inflation target, with Bank Rate rising to 1.0% by the end of 2022 and remaining at roughly that level over the following two years.
