PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Productivity (16 November 2015)

The government is committed to boosting productivity growth and narrowing the gap with other leading advanced economies. In July 2015 the government published ‘Fixing the Foundations: Creating a more prosperous nation’; a comprehensive plan that sets the agenda to reverse the UK’s long-term productivity problem.

The financial services sector has a dual role in supporting UK productivity. As well as its own productivity performance, it is critical for supporting the rest of the economy, allocating resources and facilitating long term productive investment. In the latest remit letter to the Financial Policy Committee of the Bank of England, the Chancellor highlighted the importance of a stable financial system providing finance for productive investment.

To promote the provision of finance to support productive investment, it is important that it can be measured accurately. The Bank of England, working with HM Treasury, have initiated research to create a better measurement of ‘finance for productive investment’ covering all asset classes and all stages of finance, with a view to publishing the data on a regular basis.