Yahoo Finance Kane's England can give UK economy a kick of gold
A World Cup win by Harry Kane’s England would be an “unalloyed, unadulterated absolute good” for the UK economy, the governor of the Bank of England has declared.
Mark Carney’s increasing confidence in the UK economy was also being interpreted as a possible hint that interest rates could rise in August when the Bank of England’s rate setters meet next week to decide what do about the current level of 0.5%.
The Bank of England governor – born in Canada and a holder of an Irish passport – said of Kane’s team: “This is a pleasure to watch right now so we are all behind them.”
England play Sweden in the quarter finals on Saturday at 3pm when retailers are already preparing for a sales bonanza, fuelled by the weekend’s sporting events and the hot weather.
The team progressed after beating Colombia in England’s first-ever World Cup victory in a penalty shoot out.
The UK’s biggest supermarket chain Tesco said last week has been its strongest yet this year for beer sales and it expected another bumper weekend with 50 million bottles or cans of beer to be sold along with nearly a million bottles of wine – and 6 million ice lollies.
Carney was speaking at event in the north of England, and reportedly seen wearing a label badge with the Three Lions symbol of the England team, when he was asked about the economic impact of a win by Kane’s team. His remarks were reported by a number of news outlets.
“It would be an unalloyed, unadulterated absolute good. Everything would be good,” said Carney, who quipped he intended to get one of the waistcoats worn by team manager Gareth Southgate.
The £65 waistcoat can be bought in Marks & Spencer and some sizes appear to be low on stock on its website. Earlier this week, the M&S – which supplied the three-piece suits for the England football team – said waistcoat sales were up 35%.
England’s progression through the tournament – along with the sunny weather – is being credited with boosting sales of beer, BBQ items and wide-screen TVs. In its latest predictions issued on Thursday, Tesco reckoned it was ready to sell nearly 3.5 million sausages, around 4 million burger and 3 million punnets of strawberries.
Tesco BBQ foods buyer Natalie Bastow said: “Fantastic weather and the world’s biggest sporting event are creating a real carnival atmosphere across Britain this week … This is already the best summer for BBQ meat sales for several years.”
The British Beer and Pub Association has already predicted that beer sales this weekend could provide £24m boost to the economy and £3.6bn in taxes for the Chancellor.
It is not all good for retailers, however. John Lewis said earlier this week that fashion sales were down 3.5% and there have been predictions that this year is shaping up to be the worst for the high street since the 2008 recession as online sales, business rates and tight budgets make life difficult for retailers.
Economists have warned that any “feel good” factor from the World Cup will be short-lived and some purchases – such as wide-screen TVs – brought forward from later in the year.
