What is good for household confidence is also good for the economy as a whole

Responding to today’s announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on a package of support to address rising energy bills, the IoD’s Chief Economist Kitty Ussher said:

“Whilst we would of course like to have seen direct help for business energy costs in today’s announcement, we completely understand that the priority should be to address the cost-of-living crisis for vulnerable households. And ultimately, what is good for household confidence is also good for the economy as a whole.

“However, it is still the case that high energy prices are causing huge concern for business leaders. In our own research, around half (46%) of Institute of Directors members state that the cost of energy is having a negative impact on their organisation, up from only 15% a year ago. While today’s announcement is rightly to support households, the Chancellor’s recent decision to do the opposite for business and raise costs further by hiking employers’ national insurance contributions is contributing to a reduction in business confidence in the economic outlook.”