LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Below are highlights from a speech on Britain's economy by finance minister George Osborne on Tuesday.
ON IMPROVED INVESTOR CONFIDENCE IN UK
'I think, as the governor of the Bank of England made clear last week, what the budget has helped do is remove the downside risk that existed of a loss of confidence in the British economy out there among the international investment community ... I think we have done that and our market interest rates prove that.'
ON MONETARY STIMULUS FROM LOWER BORROWING COSTS
'It is cheaper to borrow money today than it was at the time that this government was elected and that is because there is a confidence out there that was not present a few months ago and that is having a huge stimulating effect, a monetary stimulus, for businesses and families out there in the real economy ...'
'To change course now would be an absolute disaster.'
ON REASONS FOR OPTIMISM
'Here in Britain, we can start to be cautiously optimistic about the economic situation. GDP growth in the 2nd quarter surpassed expectations at 1.1 percent, with all but 0.2 percent of that coming from the private sector. Employment is growing at the fastest pace for over a decade, confounding predictions that the economy cannot generate enough private sector jobs. Manufacturing is picking up and exports are recovering thanks to increasing global demand...'
'The much needed rebalancing of our indebted economy away from government and towards the private sector, away from consumption and towards business demand, away from imports and towards exports, is beginning.'
ON REASONS FOR CAUTION
'But of course we must remain cautious. Inflation is proving more persistent than expected, as the Bank of England governor explained in his letter to me this morning...'
'I agree with Mervyn King when he said last week that we are likely to face a choppy recovery.'
Keywords: BRITAIN ECONOMY/OSBORNE (UK Economics desk, uk.economics@reuters.com, Tel: +44 207 542 1894) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
ON IMPROVED INVESTOR CONFIDENCE IN UK
'I think, as the governor of the Bank of England made clear last week, what the budget has helped do is remove the downside risk that existed of a loss of confidence in the British economy out there among the international investment community ... I think we have done that and our market interest rates prove that.'
ON MONETARY STIMULUS FROM LOWER BORROWING COSTS
'It is cheaper to borrow money today than it was at the time that this government was elected and that is because there is a confidence out there that was not present a few months ago and that is having a huge stimulating effect, a monetary stimulus, for businesses and families out there in the real economy ...'
'To change course now would be an absolute disaster.'
ON REASONS FOR OPTIMISM
'Here in Britain, we can start to be cautiously optimistic about the economic situation. GDP growth in the 2nd quarter surpassed expectations at 1.1 percent, with all but 0.2 percent of that coming from the private sector. Employment is growing at the fastest pace for over a decade, confounding predictions that the economy cannot generate enough private sector jobs. Manufacturing is picking up and exports are recovering thanks to increasing global demand...'
'The much needed rebalancing of our indebted economy away from government and towards the private sector, away from consumption and towards business demand, away from imports and towards exports, is beginning.'
ON REASONS FOR CAUTION
'But of course we must remain cautious. Inflation is proving more persistent than expected, as the Bank of England governor explained in his letter to me this morning...'
'I agree with Mervyn King when he said last week that we are likely to face a choppy recovery.'
Keywords: BRITAIN ECONOMY/OSBORNE (UK Economics desk, uk.economics@reuters.com, Tel: +44 207 542 1894) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
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