George Osborne’s proposed ‘credit easing’ measures must incentivise banks to increase their lending to small businesses: they are vital to the recovery of employment and the wider economy

Chancellor George Osborne is set to announce “credit easing” measures in his Autumn Statement, aimed at getting banks to lend on more affordable terms and in greater volume to under-served segments of the economy. Charles Goodhart OBE FBA and Morgan Stanley’s Jonathan Ashworth believe ‘quasi-fiscal’ policies could provide a larger and more sustained boost to the economy, particularly when focused on small and medium-sized enterprises, historically a key driver of job creation.