The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has urged the Treasury to focus on three areas to boost economic growth and job creation in the forthcoming Budget.
In a letter to Chancellor George Osborne, the CBI calls for him to focus on boosting export performance, unleashing domestic investment spending, and removing barriers for high-growth firms.
The proposals include creating a new corporate bond market for mid-cap businesses to increase the supply of capital; speeding up the planning system to stimulate infrastructure investment; and encouraging companies to become more energy efficient by restoring incentives to the Carbon Reduction Commitment.
The CBI is also urging Osborne to focus on areas of taxation that are "discouraging entrepreneurship and undermining UK competitiveness".
This includes the 50p personal tax rate and the "narrow definition" of business assets under Capital Gains Tax.
CBI director general John Cridland said: “This Budget must demonstrate a relentless focus on growth to help get the UK working again. We need an all-action Budget which boosts exports, investment and jobs.
“The Budget should create the framework for a Mittelstand of mid-cap businesses by ensuring they can access the capital they need to expand at home and abroad.
“Mobile talent needs a good reason to do business in the UK, so the Chancellor should signal a road map for reducing the 50p tax rate.
“The incentive behind the Carbon Reduction Commitment must be restored to help companies go green, and if not, it should be stopped altogether because in its current form it adds yet another cost to doing business.
“And we want to hear more about how the planning system will genuinely deliver swift decisions on infrastructure, and less about abolishing the Infrastructure Planning Commission.”
The CBI is also calling for changes to regulations that are "hampering firms".
For example, restoring the two-year unfair dismissal qualifying period to give firms the confidence to hire new staff without the threat of a tribunal if it doesn’t work out.
The CBI wants to see the tribunals system "strengthened to weed out weak and vexatious claims". And the group also warned that rise in fuel duties would make a difficult situation worse around uncertainty over oil prices. The Budget is due on 23 March.
