lol
How appropriate:
Migrants 'boost the UK economy'
POLISH plumbers and other migrants from nations that joined the European Union last year have boosted the UK economy by keeping interest rates down, a report claimed today.
The Ernst & Young Item Club, which uses the Treasury's model of the economy for its forecasts, said the cost of borrowing would be five per cent instead of the current mark of 4.5 per cent without the arrival of people willing to work. It joins experts including Bank of England governor Mervyn King in concluding that immigration since 10 new countries joined the EU in May 2004 has been good for the UK economy.
According to the ITEM Club, migrants from countries such as Poland and Slovenia have plugged gaps in industries ranging from hospitality to catering.
Almost 300,000 immigrants have taken jobs in the UK in the past three years and have not isolated themselves to London, it found.
"Interest rates have stabilised at an historically low level and that has boosted consumer confidence and house prices," Mr Spencer said.
Strength
He noted that the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England kept a close eye on house prices and they had been stronger than many members expected.
"Although the strength of the housing market has made the MPC reluctant to cut interest rates to stimulate demand, the buoyancy of house prices and transactions will support consumer spending," Mr Spencer added.
The ITEM Club also suggested exports began to outpace imports in 2005 for the first time in a decade.
l TELECOMS group BT said today that it believed a Government guarantee covered around three-quarters, or £28bn, of its pension scheme liabilities.
The former state monopoly also said its pension scheme actuary, Watson Wyatt, believed the existence of the guarantee would lower the amount BT would have to pay to Britain's new pension regulator for running a pension fund deficit.
Interest in the so-called "crown guarantee" has risen in recent weeks on speculation that it could encourage bidders, who might have been put off previously by BT's big pension deficit.
BT's last triennial valuation concluded the deficit was £2.1bn as of December 31, 2002.
24 April 2006