The British Independent Retailers Association has responded to the announcement that the UK interest rates have made the biggest jump in 27 years
The Bank of England has today announced it has raised interest rates again from 1.25% to 1.75% to try and curb rising prices.
Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira, said: "Again it is no surprise that interest rate have risen today but we are surprised by the size of the increase.
"We accept that the Bank of England needs to bring inflation under control, but there also has to be recognition that increasing interest rates will further dampen consumer confidence and reduce expenditure on the high street.
"Interest rate rises also increase the cost of borrowing for businesses, and many independent retailers have more debt due to the pandemic. So reduced consumer spending an higher costs is a double whammy for these business owners."
He added: "Because of this impact we feel that the government should do what it can to reduce the cost of being in business by removing business rates for the rest of the year. Without a support package for business, we run the risk of seeing many more perfectly good high street businesses closing through no fault of their own."
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