BBA welcomes new chancellor

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BBA welcomes new chancellor

Fri 29th Jun 2007

The British Bankers' Association (BBA) has welcomed the return of Alistair Darling to the Treasury as chancellor of the Exchequer as party of new prime minister Gordon Brown's first cabinet reshuffle.

Commenting on his appointment, Angela Knight, chief executive of the BBA, encouraged the new chancellor to put "the competitiveness of the banking and financial services at the top of his agenda".

She added: "We would also urge him to ensure that both UK and EU regulation is streamlined."

Howard Archer, chief economist at the Global Insight consultancy, said that he did not expect to see many changes in terns of fiscal policy, as he believed that the new PM would "maintain a very keen interest in events at the Treasury".

Given the spending priorities outlined by the Treasury previously, Mr Archer also said that Mr Darling would have difficulty implementing tax cuts or public spending increases ahead of the next election.

Analysts also warned of of higher inflation, rising interest rates and growing debt levels as the new chancellor took over his post.

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