UK Economy Has Turned Corner, Sunak Tells Business Leaders

He
acknowledged
“global
headwinds”
affecting
businesses,
referencing
disruption
in
the
Red
Sea,
where
violence
by
Houthi
rebels
has
caused
firms
to
redirect
shipments.
Among
other
things
this
has
impact
tea
supplies.

Overall,
however,
the
prime
minister
was
optimistic
about
business.

“I’m
absolutely
determined
to
make
the
UK
the
best
place
in
the
world
to
start
to
grow
and
invest
in
businesses,”
he
told
the
assembled
bosses,
which
included
the
chief
executive
of
Rolls
Royce
(RR).

“Of
course
we’re
still
battling
with
lots
of
global
headwinds,
not
least
the
Red
Sea
at
the
moment,
but
at
the
start
of
this
year
I
absolutely
believe
that
the
economy
has
turned
the
corner
and
we’re
now
pointing
in
the
right
direction.

“Hopefully
that’s
something
that
you’re
seeing
in
your
businesses,
but
inflation
has
been
more
than
halved
from
11%
down
to
4%,
mortgage
rates
are
starting
to
come
down.
Everyone
is
predicting
us
to
grow
this
year.
I
think
PwC
has
said
that
we’re
going
to
outperform
France,
Germany,
and
Japan
this
year”.

It
comes
as
the
UK’s
consumer
prices
index
(CPI)

showed
an
unchanged
reading
of
4%
for
January,
undercutting
the
4.2%
expected
by
economists
and
analysts.
Nevertheless,
it
remains
double
the
2%
target
set
by
the
Bank
of
England.
The
Office
for
National
Statistics
will
publish
fresh
gross
domestic
product
figures
for
December
2023
later
today.

The
prime
minister
said
that
“because
of
all
of
that”
the
government
has
been
able
to
start
cutting
taxes.
He
added
that
business
“defined”
his
life
before
politics.

“I
grew
up
in
a
small
business
family,
worked
for
my
mum,
did
her
accounts”,
he
said.

“(It)
defined
my
career
before
I
entered
Parliament,
I
obviously
worked
in
investing
and
finance,
investing
in
businesses,
helping
them
grow,
and
scale
and
thrive.

“And
obviously,
it
defined
my
initial
time
in
government
[…]
as
chancellor
of
the
exchequer
working
with
many
of
you
during
the
pandemic”.

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