Boost private lending with tax breaks
Forum of Private Business wants the government to go beyond its plans for an SME debt market
PRIVATE LENDERS need tax breaks to help boost the economy – not just equity investors – said the Forum of Private Business (FPB).
Following the chancellor’s pledge of a scheme for government to create a market to buy up packaged SME debt, the FPB wants further measures for venture capitalists to help boost SME investment.
“The government is trying to make the right noises by announcing a ‘credit easing’ scheme but doubts remain as to the form it will take and how it will work to free up credit for small businesses,” said FPB chief executive, Phil Orford.
“At best, is a medium-term strategy that will require the creation of small business bond markets in the first place, and there is a concern that the principle of bundling together mixed risk debt for bond trading is what sparked the credit crunch.