Almost 100 per cent of small business owners expect that Wednesday"s Budget will have little or no positive effect on the UK"s economic situation, according to new research published today by Simply Business.
More than a quarter of respondents (26 per cent) think that the plans announced in the Budget will actually make the situation worse for SMEs.
Small business owners also expressed surprise at the Chancellor"s apparently optimistic growth forecasts, with 87 per cent predicting that the UK economy will not return to growth by the end of the year.
Nine out of ten respondents suggested that the schemes aimed at small businesses were no more than "meaningless headlines," with almost 100 per cent indicating that they expect to receive little or no benefit from the extension of tax reclaim rights for loss-making businesses, government credit insurance guarantees, or the doubling of the capital investment allowance.
Tony Deacon, chief executive of Simply Business, said, "Entrepreneurs are telling us that they need bolder measures to support them if the economy is to achieve the Chancellor"s recovery projections."
The Chancellor has already been quizzed on the accuracy of his growth forecasts, as new figures from the Office for National Statistics today stated that the economy shrank by 1.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2009.
