Budget 'must not place more financial pressures on consumers'

It is important that the coalition government's forthcoming Budget does not place any extra financial pressures on people in the UK, according to one commentator.

The British Retail Consortium's (BRC's) director-general Stephen Robertson commented that people's confidence levels could have an impact on the economy.

He stated: "Turning round consumer confidence is central to turning round the economy. A range of pressures is bearing down on customers.

"As it considers the Budget, the government must not add any more."

He made his remarks following the publication of the latest Retail Sales Monitor from the BRC and KPMG.

Relating to last month, the organisations' research revealed that compared with the same period in 2010, a 2.3 per cent rise in like-for-like retail sales values was seen.

Credit card users may also be interested to note that Nielsen Company and BRC figures recently showed that 82 per cent of survey respondents feel that a recession is still facing the UK.

Posted by Martin Peacock.