Private investors favoured stimulus

The best thing George Osborne could have done in yesterday's Budget was stimulate investment in business so the UK can grow its way out of recession, according to users of F&C's investment trust website, fandc.co.uk.

Throughout March, users of the site have had the opportunity to vote in an online poll for what they thought the Budget should contain. Some 37% of respondents favoured stimulating investment in business. The next most popular choices saw respondents almost completely polarised, with 21% saying the Government should rethink some of the cuts to public spending announced over the past year, and 20% saying Osborne should carry on with the coalition's deficit reduction strategy.

Perhaps surprisingly given the recent rises in the oil price, which have fed through into record prices at petrol pumps, only 16% wanted Osborne to announce a rethink on indirect taxes such as the new 20% VAT rate and the planned increase in fuel duty, while 5% thought reversing some of the direct tax rises of the past year or so would be the best use of Budget resources.