- Lower borrowing, higher employment, but someone has to pay for spending;
- National Living Wage (NLW) up 5%, but cost of living continues to rise;
- Promises of new fiscal rules to get borrowing and debt in check – but these have regularly been broken previously
- Council Tax rises fear for post-pandemic ‘legacy’ spending on health and local government;
- Downing Street to demonstrate ‘level up’ Britain spending review in the shadow of ‘Net Zero’ ambitions.
On Wednesday, the UK Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, will reveal the government’s tax and spending plans in the 2021 Budget. Glint predicts he will focus on support for businesses and individuals in the aftermath of COVID 19.
Spreading the wealth around the UK with the government’s ‘levelling up’ promises, as well as its plans for greener energy and reducing greenhouse emissions to zero by 2050, will also feature, as will plans to reduce VAT on energy bills by 5%.
We expect that government spending will rise next year, especially in areas like schools and health. There is likely to be a rise in minimum wage by 5.7% to £9.42 / hour, from the current rate of £8.91. At face value this paints a rosy picture of a government investing in vote winning policies, designed to kick-start an ailing economy after the COVID-induced ‘Great Pause’. The big question however, is how will Rishi pay for all this?
Jason Cozens, Founder & CEO of Glint, www.glintpay.com , says: “Every day we are witnessing rising energy bills and higher-priced groceries, as well as hikes in other household costs. The combination of high inflation, caused by out of control Quantitative Easing (money printing) and low interest rates are visible to all of us. Your money simply doesn’t go as far as it used to, but if you’re on a low income and don’t have the benefit of savings, you’re going to feel the pinch even more.”
“In the last financial year, the UK government borrowed more than £320 billion, the greatest amount of borrowing since the Second World War; it will probably borrow half this amount again this year. So, in an economic atmosphere where all of us are looking for ways to save, we’re asking Mr Sunak how his Budget will help UK savers to protect their hard-earned money from the government debt and overspending of the last year.”
“In an effort to balance the books, Mr Sunak has already frozen public sector pay and income tax thresholds, he’s cut foreign aid and we are likely to see income tax increase by a further 6% from 2023; he’s also unveiled plans for further taxes on both workers and employers. Bricks and mortar shops and business premises are likely to receive new levies and there are rumours that the Chancellor intends to ask graduates to repay student loans earlier, and cutting the threshold from paying 9% on everything they earn over £27,295 per year, over thirty years, to everything over a potential £20,000, costing them approximately £656 a year more; some ministers have even proposed a threshold of £23,000 and extending student loan repayments to over forty years – so keeping them in debt for an additional ten years.”
“Whether it’s rising inflation, minimal interest rates, increased taxation on your pension savings; raises in income tax, Council tax or capital gains on your property, this high spending Budget is likely to see increased debt across the UK’s population. Your fiat money is going to be stretched further as it becomes worth less and less; first time buyers are going to continue to swim against the tide – once they’ve saved enough for their deposit, they are likely to find out that it’s no longer enough to secure the home they were saving for.”
“It’s clear that the people of Britain are in need of another way to protect their savings. The allure of cryptocurrencies has captured the hearts and minds of some investors and savers but their extreme volatility ensures that these assets aren’t a viable option when considering any long-term saving. This is why at Glint we have focused our attention on making gold, a store of wealth trusted for Millennia, into a liquid form of asset, one that enables you to save, spend and send real gold, digitally. Glint has made gold into reliable money again.”
“While the value of gold can decline, meaning that its purchasing power can fall, it has proven its reliability as a long-term store of value; the price is steadily climbing back to the highs of last year. Previously, access to gold was extremely limited but the digitalisation of gold with Glint has unlocked the asset to all consumers, offering a viable means of saving for the future and even spending gold on an everyday basis.”
Glint has enjoyed rapid growth during 2021, with a 34% increase in new clients looking to spend and save gold – hitting 84,350 clients in August, up from 62,900 at the start of the year. Glint also recently passed a major milestone, processing over $250m transactions since launch.
Glint’s UK crowdfunding campaign through Seedrs has recently successfully closed, raising over £3m, 152% of its target, from 1,200 investors.
About Glint
Glint Pay Services Ltd. (glintpay.com) is a fintech company, based in London, Boulder (US) and Tokyo, that uses gold as an alternative global currency to enable its clients instantly to buy, sell, save, spend and now, share their physical gold and other currencies, through the Glint Mastercard® and Glint App.
Glint offers no credit facilities, it allows users to transfer, receive and save real gold, which is secured in Brink’s vaults in Switzerland.
The new Glint P2P offer, Glint it!, allows customers to instantly send or receive money, including real, spendable gold and other currencies between Glint account holders. This facility is available as part of the Glint app which can be downloaded to smartphones from Apple’s App Store and Google Play.
Glint is authorised and regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority which has given permission for Glint to issue electronic money (e-money) and provide payment services (FRN 900657).
Gold is not regulated by the FCA. However, Glint’s clients know their gold is secured in a Brinks Vault in Switzerland. Brinks is insured by Lloyds of London and their policy covers the replacement value of Glint client’s Gold as held in their vault.
The Glint card is issued in the UK by Glint Pay Services Ltd pursuant to licence by Mastercard International Inc.
Glint is a U.S.-based authorized Card Program Manager. Funds are held at Sutton Bank, Member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), in an FDIC-insured account.
Glint Pay Inc. employs effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), and fraud prevention systems and controls to mitigate and combat risks.
Whilst we strongly believe that gold is the fairest and most reliable currency on the planet, we obviously need to point out that it isn’t 100% risk free. Whilst we have seen a steady increase over time, the value of gold can fall, which means the purchasing power of the customer can also fall.