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and a loan guarantee scheme, to bring forward additional lending
from banks and other institutions, where they would otherwise
be unwilling to lend to small firms, for example because of their
lack of a track record in business or lack of security.
Take up
has been very encouraging indeed and guarantees have been issued
for lending of £166 millions to nearly 5000 firms, about half of
them new firms.
All these specific actions we have taken to nourish and stimulate
Lo
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small firms are in addition to the general encouragement we have
offered to enterprise These include the reduction in the penal
love hour
higher rates of taxation on income which our predecessors had
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introduced; the removal of unnecessary and unfruitful restrictions
ure !
like exchange controls; and our constant efforts, within the limits
imposed by wider economic policy considerations or external constraints
such as the pull from high US interest rates, to cheapen credit for
industry and commerce. Interest rates are now 4% lower than they
were in the autumn of 1981. Of course we would like to see further
falls in interest rates. The framework for enterprise built by
my Government is also there to be used by the overseas company
which wishes to manufacture in Britain itself. We would wish to
encourage you to look to the United Kingdom as a springboard to
wider markets.
The service sector of our economy remains strong too. Many of the
fiscal measures we have introduced apply equally to services as
to manufacturing industry. The invisibles sector contributes some
£150 millions net surplus to our balance of payments each month.
That is only the net balance in a set of figures which include, for