Halifax: More can be done to boost savings
22/03/2007
More should be done to encourage long-term savings in the UK, according to financial services provider Halifax.
Mike Regnier, head of savings at the group, suggests that if individual savings account (Isa) allowances had moved in line with inflation, consumers would now be able to save £8,500 tax free.
His comments come following yesterday's Budget which revealed that the overall annual Isa allowance will increase from £7,000 to £7,200 in April 2008.
Cash Isa limits will rise from £3,000 to £3,600 in the same month, which is the first time the level has increased since the savings product was launched in 1999.
This will enable savers to put aside more of their earnings and further protect people from the taxman, Halifax states.
However, Malcolm Dodds, personal equity plan and Isa manager at Alliance Trust, feels that the chancellor's Budget has let down investors.
Speaking yesterday, he said: "We hoped the government would stimulate long-term saving by taking the full step needed to bring Isa limits up to the level they should be if they had kept pace with inflation.
"Instead, all we have seen today is mere tinkering."
Mike Regnier, head of savings at the group, suggests that if individual savings account (Isa) allowances had moved in line with inflation, consumers would now be able to save £8,500 tax free.
His comments come following yesterday's Budget which revealed that the overall annual Isa allowance will increase from £7,000 to £7,200 in April 2008.
Cash Isa limits will rise from £3,000 to £3,600 in the same month, which is the first time the level has increased since the savings product was launched in 1999.
This will enable savers to put aside more of their earnings and further protect people from the taxman, Halifax states.
However, Malcolm Dodds, personal equity plan and Isa manager at Alliance Trust, feels that the chancellor's Budget has let down investors.
Speaking yesterday, he said: "We hoped the government would stimulate long-term saving by taking the full step needed to bring Isa limits up to the level they should be if they had kept pace with inflation.
"Instead, all we have seen today is mere tinkering."
