LONDON (Reuters) – Optimism about the business outlook for financial firms in Britain fell in the fourth quarter of 2024 at the sharpest pace in two years, a survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) showed on Thursday.
The CBI’s measure of sentiment among financial firms fell to -28% in December, the biggest fall since September 2022, despite an increase in business volumes over the last three months. It had come in at -13% last September.
Comments submitted with respondents’ answers to the survey highlighted cost concerns associated with finance minister Rachel Reeves’s budget, the CBI said.
The government announced an increase in national insurance, or social security, contributions paid by employers by 1.2 percentage points as well as a lowering of the threshold at which employers start paying it, in an effort to raise revenues.
The national insurance hike for employers was necessary to fund investment in public services, Reeves said at the time.
Headcount at financial firms also fell at an increased pace over the past three months, the CBI survey said.
(Reporting By Lawrence White; Editing by Gareth Jones)
