Consumer Confidence Tumbles in UK After ‘Painful’ Budget Warning

The BBC is reporting that a long-running measure of how consumers feel about their finances and the economy has fallen sharply, raising concerns that the government’s warning that the Budget will be painful has shaken people’s confidence.

GfK’s Consumer Confidence Barometer has tumbled further into negative territory since the end of August.

The index had been recovering after the years of the Covid pandemic, rising prices and higher interest rates had dented the outlook for many.

GfK said the latest measure did not provide encouraging news for the UK’s new government, while some economists have linked the drop to Labour’s downbeat rhetoric about the Budget.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the Budget on October 30 will be painful, with some taxes set to rise and spending cuts.

Plans to means-test winter fuel payments have already been announced, meaning more than nine million pensioners will no longer be eligible for up to 3-hundred pounds this winter.