Chamber urges Carney to be kind to SMEs

BUSINESS leaders in Coventry and Warwickshire have urged the new governor of the Bank of England is ensure more money gets into the hands of businesses that want to invest.

Mark Carney, who took over from Sir Mervyn King this week, chairs his first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Thursday.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce said it believed there would initially be no change and that interest rates would stay at 0.5% with the programme of quantitative easing held at £375bn.

However, it said more needed to be done to improve access to finance for SMEs.

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the chamber, said: “We all wish Mark Carney very well in his new role and while we expect little change for some time when it comes to QE and interest rates, we would like to see more done to help businesses – particularly SMEs – access finance.

“Programmes such as Funding for Lending and QE need to start impacting further on the real economy and getting more money out to firms who want to invest and grow.

“There are signs of improvement in the economy but there is certainly no room for complacency. Access to finance remains a key issue for businesses and we hope Mark Carney will work with Government to help address that.”