The government is under growing pressure to get momentum back into the economy amid warnings that businesses plan to cut jobs and raise prices, while millions of families believe their finances will worsen this year.
Before a major speech this week by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, designed to restate Labour’s commitment to improving the economy, the CBI said private sector firms were urgently assessing their budgets to offset measures announced in last October’s budget.
The lobby group said it expected another “significant fall” in business activity over the next three months. This measure has now been flat or falling since mid-2022, when Liz Truss was briefly prime minister.
Alpesh Paleja, the interim deputy chief economist at the CBI, said: “After a grim lead-up to Christmas, the new year hasn’t brought any sense of renewal, with businesses still expecting a significant…
