Getty ImagesA long-running measure of how consumers feel about their finances and the economy has fallen sharply, raising concerns that the government’s warning that the Budget will be “painful” has shaken people’s confidence.GfK’s Consumer Confidence Barometer has tumbled further into negative territory since the end of August.The index had been recovering after the years of the Covid pandemic, rising prices and higher interest rates had dented the outlook for many.GfK said the latest measure did not provide “encouraging news” for the UK’s new government, while some economists have linked the drop to Labour’s downbeat rhetoric about the Budget.Sir Keir Starmer has said the Budget on 30 October will be “painful”, with some taxes set to rise and spending cuts. Plans to means-test winter fuel payments have already been announced, meaning more than nine million pensioners will no longer be eligible for up to £300 this winter.The new government has been keen to stress the economic inheritance it has picked up from the previous Conservative administration, but some business leaders, such as the Labour-supporting boss of Iceland, Richard Walker, have warned the government about “doom-laden prophecies”.Talk of tax rises and increased employment rights has “dented confidence in the environment for business in the UK”, according to the Institute of Directors (IoD) business group.GfK, a market research company, said there were “major corrections” – or double digit falls – for consumers’ perception of the general economic situation, as well as how likely they were to make big purchases.’Doom and gloom’According to GfK’s barometer, people’s view of their own personal finances in the future has also turned negative again, down nine points to -3.Other measures of consumer confidence have dipped too and overall, the main index fell by seven points to -20.Nick Glynne, the boss of Buy It Direct Group claimed that the business, which sells big ticket home appliances and furniture online, had seen a 9% drop in website traffic “since the doom and gloom promoted by Keir Starmer”.”It’s almost a perfect map between when the government started announcing the likelihood of bad news in the budget and the drop in demand,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.He said there was a “feeling that the budget is going to take money out of people’s pockets with tax rises”, but added there were other factors impacting the business including customers being worried about mortgage costs. “We’re hoping that the government has overplayed their hand a bit, or overplayed it to manage expectations and that come November we will hopefully benefit from continued drop in mortgage rates,” Mr …
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[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnGetty ImagesA long-running measure of how consumers feel about their finances and the economy has fallen sharply, raising concerns that the government’s warning that the Budget will be “painful” has shaken people’s confidence.GfK’s Consumer Confidence Barometer has tumbled further into negative territory since the end of August.The index had been recovering after the years of the Covid pandemic, rising prices and higher interest rates had dented the outlook for many.GfK said the latest measure did not provide “encouraging news” for the UK’s new government, while some economists have linked the drop to Labour’s downbeat rhetoric about the Budget.Sir Keir Starmer has said the Budget on 30 October will be “painful”, with some taxes set to rise and spending cuts. Plans to means-test winter fuel payments have already been announced, meaning more than nine million pensioners will no longer be eligible for up to £300 this winter.The new government has been keen to stress the economic inheritance it has picked up from the previous Conservative administration, but some business leaders, such as the Labour-supporting boss of Iceland, Richard Walker, have warned the government about “doom-laden prophecies”.Talk of tax rises and increased employment rights has “dented confidence in the environment for business in the UK”, according to the Institute of Directors (IoD) business group.GfK, a market research company, said there were “major corrections” – or double digit falls – for consumers’ perception of the general economic situation, as well as how likely they were to make big purchases.’Doom and gloom’According to GfK’s barometer, people’s view of their own personal finances in the future has also turned negative again, down nine points to -3.Other measures of consumer confidence have dipped too and overall, the main index fell by seven points to -20.Nick Glynne, the boss of Buy It Direct Group claimed that the business, which sells big ticket home appliances and furniture online, had seen a 9% drop in website traffic “since the doom and gloom promoted by Keir Starmer”.”It’s almost a perfect map between when the government started announcing the likelihood of bad news in the budget and the drop in demand,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.He said there was a “feeling that the budget is going to take money out of people’s pockets with tax rises”, but added there were other factors impacting the business including customers being worried about mortgage costs. “We’re hoping that the government has overplayed their hand a bit, or overplayed it to manage expectations and that come November we will hopefully benefit from continued drop in mortgage rates,” Mr …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]
