Budget must spare savers, says ABI
By myfinances.co.uk staff
Tomorrow's (March 24th) Budget should not include measures that will further damage the UK's saving levels, the Association of British Insurers (ABI) has argued.
In a poll of 2,500 adults conducted by the trade body, 55% said that the benefits of saving had diminished over the past 12 months, while only 11 per cent thought they had improved.
The survey also indicated that saving levels are generally quite low, as two-thirds of respondents admitted that they would struggle to cope financially if they lost their job, the ABI noted.
Kerrie Kelly, the organisation's director-general, said that encouraging greater levels of saving over relying on debt would be an important step in helping to "rebalance the economy".
"Both consumers and UK insurers need the tax system to treat long-term savings products with greater respect, underpinned by stable rules. Further changes in the Budget will further harm consumers' attitudes to saving," she warned.
The ABI also echoed the National Association of Pension Funds' call for chancellor Alistair Darling to commit to issuing more index-linked and long-dated gilts to provide pension schemes with greater access to long-term assets.
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