UK
Chancellor says public sector pay rises will not fuel inflationRobert Dex
Tue, 19 July 2022
Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi speaking at the Financial and Professional Services Dinner at Mansion House in the City of London (PA)
Britain’s biggest public-sector pay increases in nearly 20 years will not fuel price pressures, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi said.
Speaking at the City of London’s annual Mansion House dinner, the politician said fighting inflation was “a moral imperative”.
He was speaking after the government announced pay rises of about 4% to 5% for more than 2 million public-sector workers - a bigger increase than in recent years but well below current consumer price inflation of more than 9%.
“We are finding a careful balance, providing the highest uplift in nearly 20 years without making inflationary pressures worse,” Zahawi said.
Some contenders in the Conservative Party leadership race to succeed Boris Johnson as prime minister have said the Bank of England has been too slow to fight inflation but Zahawi said the bank was “rightly” independent to set interest rates as it saw fit.
“They have all the tools they need. And I know they have complete determination to do what is required,” he said.
“Protecting the country from the causes and consequences of rising inflation isn’t just a technocratic exercise. It is a moral imperative,” he added.
The government needed to play its part by delivering sound public finances and tackling longer-term bottlenecks in the supply of workers and energy, he said.
He also set out plans for post-Brexit changes to financial regulation. Zahawi became chancellor two weeks ago after the resignation of Rishi Sunak which led to the Prime Minister’s resignation and acknowledged his tenure might be “only a few months” as the new PM will appoint their own ministers.
UK pay settlements hold at 4%, highest since 1992 - XpertHR
By David Milliken -
People walk through the financial district of Canary Wharf
LONDON (Reuters) - British employers agreed average pay rises of 4% with their staff in the three months to the end of June, the joint-highest since 1992 but falling further behind inflation, industry data showed on Wednesday.
Human resources data company XpertHR said the median pay settlement had remained unchanged for a third consecutive month, while inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in May and the Bank of England expects it to exceed 11% later this year.
Separate figures on Tuesday showed the biggest real-terms fall in pay since official records began in 2001.
"Pay awards appear to have plateaued," XpertHR pay and benefits editor Sheila Attwood said.
If pay awards have indeed stopped accelerating, that will be welcomed by the Bank of England, which wants to ensure high inflation - largely driven by a jump in energy prices - does not become entrenched for years to come.
However, there may be further upward pressures due to ongoing industrial disputes and increased public-sector pay.
Rail workers staged their biggest strike in decades last month and plan further walkouts, as do telecoms, postal and airport workers.
Britain's government on Tuesday announced pay rises for more than 2 million public-sector workers - typically around 4-5%, but ranging from 2% for senior civil servants to 9.3% for the lowest health staff.
XpertHR said there was a wider-than-usual range of pay offers in the 324 deals, covering 780,000 workers, which it looked at from April to June. A quarter of settlements offered pay rises of less than 3%, while a quarter were for over 6%.
Official data for the three months to May showed private-sector pay was 7.2% higher than a year earlier, while public-sector pay was up 1.5%. Much of the difference reflected big pay rises in finance and construction, as well as one-off bonuses.
(Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce)
By David Milliken -
People walk through the financial district of Canary Wharf
LONDON (Reuters) - British employers agreed average pay rises of 4% with their staff in the three months to the end of June, the joint-highest since 1992 but falling further behind inflation, industry data showed on Wednesday.
Human resources data company XpertHR said the median pay settlement had remained unchanged for a third consecutive month, while inflation hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in May and the Bank of England expects it to exceed 11% later this year.
Separate figures on Tuesday showed the biggest real-terms fall in pay since official records began in 2001.
"Pay awards appear to have plateaued," XpertHR pay and benefits editor Sheila Attwood said.
If pay awards have indeed stopped accelerating, that will be welcomed by the Bank of England, which wants to ensure high inflation - largely driven by a jump in energy prices - does not become entrenched for years to come.
However, there may be further upward pressures due to ongoing industrial disputes and increased public-sector pay.
Rail workers staged their biggest strike in decades last month and plan further walkouts, as do telecoms, postal and airport workers.
Britain's government on Tuesday announced pay rises for more than 2 million public-sector workers - typically around 4-5%, but ranging from 2% for senior civil servants to 9.3% for the lowest health staff.
XpertHR said there was a wider-than-usual range of pay offers in the 324 deals, covering 780,000 workers, which it looked at from April to June. A quarter of settlements offered pay rises of less than 3%, while a quarter were for over 6%.
Official data for the three months to May showed private-sector pay was 7.2% higher than a year earlier, while public-sector pay was up 1.5%. Much of the difference reflected big pay rises in finance and construction, as well as one-off bonuses.
(Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce)
No comments:
Post a Comment