Responding to new ONS inflation figures, which show that the consumer prices index rose by 3.8% in the 12 months to September, Muniya Barua, Deputy Chief Executive at BusinessLDN, said:
“Persistently high inflation is another headache for firms at a time when they’re grappling with hikes to employment costs and sluggish growth.
“Having asked business to shoulder much of the heavy lifting over the last year, the Chancellor must not introduce further tax rises in next month’s Budget that hit private sector investment and confidence.
“Instead, the Government should remove barriers to growth by reconsidering plans for a new higher education levy on international students, scrapping stamp duty on shares to spur investment and restoring VAT-free shopping on goods to boost tourism.”