PRESS DIGEST - British Business Sunday - March 14

The Observer

DARLING CLAIMS CREDIT FOR REINING IN JOBLESS TOTAL

Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to claim next week that his government's investment in jobs programmes has saved the UK about 12 billion pounds during the recession. In last year's budget, the government predicted unemployment could reach 2.09 million at the end of 2009 and 2.44 million in 2010, but in December last year the government revised its estimates down to 1.72 million for 2009 and 1.91 million for 2010. Darling will say the lower number of claimants alone will save 10 billion pounds over five years in lower jobless benefit payments.

CREDIT CARD COMPANIES FORCED TO MAKE REPAYMENT CHEAPER

The government plans to introduce legislation that will prohibit credit card companies using an "adverse order of payments" method of calculating interest, whereby operators force customers to pay off the cheapest debts on their account first before higher interest rate debt is reduced. Nine million people in the UK have credit card debts with multiple interest rates. The practice is said to cost holders of nought per cent balance transfer cards nearly 225 pounds in the first year they hold the card. Nationwide and Saga are currently the only UK credit card issuers that do not operate such a policy.