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Lobby hard for cash – economist

- 06 February 2001
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6 February 2001



Lobby hard for cash – economist

By FWi staff

FARMERS have been urged to lobby the government to part with some of the huge cash surplus it has accumulated, and use it help their businesses recover.

David Bloom, international economist at the HSBC Bank, said government coffers were full thanks to recent economic growth across the European Union.

Farmers should persuade ministers to use this to give much-needed financial relief, he told the National Farmers Union conference on Tuesday (6 February).

Mr Bloom also predicted that farmers would see some short-term relief in the form of a strengthening of the Euro against the Pound.

An expected slow-down in the US economy, following the burst of the “dot com” bubble, will result in a stronger Euro and help British farmers, he said.

But farmers should ignore long-term macro-economic fluctuations in exchange rates and interest rates that are out of their control, Mr Bloom added.

Instead, producers should concentrate on their businesses and on adding value to farm product, he told conference delegates at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel.

“A strong Pound is the price of a strong economy,” Mr Bloom concluded.

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