Tesco urges banks to ease credit conditions

UK retailer Tesco has urged the banks to help ease credit conditions for companies as the interest cuts from the European Central Bank were not sufficient to revive the real economy. CEO Sir Terry Leahy said at the Retail Round Table Conference in Brussels: "The big rapid move down in interest rates is a good move. But you have got to combine it with better liquidity in the banking system. The issue now is availability of credit.” Leahy also said that the European Union and British Government should cut regulatory costs on business to help lift the regions' economies out of recession. “Any new costs will mean job losses. We can’t absorb the increases.” Leahy added that he expected food prices to fall as commodity prices eased but warned a weakening pound might lead to inflationary pressures, adding that UK retailers had suffered from a falling pound, which made imports from the US and China more expensive.

www.planetretail.net