Manufacturers welcome 'bold action' on interest rates

Responding to the decision to cut interest rates by a half point, EEF Chief Economist, Steve Radley, said: manufacturers would welcome the cut as a bold and decisive move to arrest the current crisis and collapse in confidence. "Coupled with the plan to shore up the financial system today’s co-ordinated moves should help arrest the potential slide into depression,” he said. The Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) has also welcomed the move which was co-ordinated with 5 other central banks, who also cut their rates by the same amount, and the Government’s announcement of its plans to rescue the banking system to restore confidence into the economy. Graham Dewhurst, Director General of the MTA, commented:“Today’s actions by the Government and the Bank of England will inject some much needed confidence into the economy as a whole. In addition, any improvement in inter bank trading must also help increase the current shortage of leasing finance, which is creating a drag for investment in capital goods. "However it should be noted that outside the financial sector there are many companies who are still doing well. The manufacturing technologies sector at the heart of advanced engineering, which we represent, has still got companies who are exporting strongly and supplying into growth areas such as aerospace. The picture is more patchy than earlier on in the year but it is certainly far away from the total doom and gloom in the media.”