Wealth management 'stifled' by minimum wage freeze?

Wealth management could be threatened if the government's suggestion of a moratorium on minimum wage rises is carried out, as one expert argues such a policy would damage Britain's economic recovery.

Carolyn Jones, director of the Institute of Employment Rights, claims lower pay will stifle the economy by reducing the amount of disposable income available to spend in retail.

This could have widespread implications for wealth management, as the effect of weaker sales is likely to echo across all sectors, reducing the availability of credit and potentially depressing stock markets.

Suggesting such a freeze "makes no economic or moral sense", Ms Jones notes cancelling next year's planned VAT rises would have a more beneficial impact, saying this would stimulate economic expansion.

A recent rise in the amount individuals must be paid took the sum from £5.80 an hour to £5.93 an hour, an increase of 2.2 per cent, with next year's augmentation to be announced in early 2011.  ADNFCR-2318-ID-800113454-ADNFCR