If we were Rachel Reeves, this is how we’d grow the economy

This is a critical moment for the UK economy. The government has set an ambition to be the fastest-growing economy in the G7. Achieving that will require a step change in how we collaborate across the public and private sectors, alongside the supporting policy and regulatory steps.
As the UK’s five biggest banks we are clear that how, as a country, we invest for the longer term — in an intelligent and disciplined way — is the right debate for us to now have. In her upcoming budget the chancellor will set out the government’s overall approach to how it will borrow to invest for the longer term and how it proposes to do so in a way that maintains wider confidence in the UK economy and the sustainability of public finances. We have three contributions to make to that debate.
First, create conditions for investor confidence. The scale of the challenge has been laid out starkly by the National Infrastructure Commission, which estimates that £40 billion to £50 billion of private capital is needed each year for the next two decades to modernise the country’s essential infrastructure. Attracting that capital requires the right policy environment, so investors have the certainty they need to fund ambitious projects that will pay back over the longer term. We welcome the steps the government has signalled that it will take to create greater certainty: reforms to planning to reduce the time and cost it takes to build; speeding up connectivity to the grid for energy projects; and a ten-year infrastructure strategy setting clear priorities. The appointment of a dedicated investment minister is welcome.
Second, be smart and selective about public investment. The National Wealth Fund, focused on key sectors for the green transition, and the work of the UK Infrastructure Bank, shows how the state can deploy its fiscal power strategically to leverage more than £20 billionof private capital. Alongside this we need to rebuild a culture of equity ownership among pension funds and consumers in order to mobilise investment. We can build on that focused approach with smart co-operation between the public and private sectors on where and how to invest, using public investment to catalyse private capital.
Finally, use the financial services sector as a lever to achieve the step change in investment that the UK needs. The strength of the City gives the UK a strategic advantage and helps to draw in investment from abroad. After a decade of change, stability and predictability in regulation can provide the certainty and resilience for banks to support growth. The industry and regulators should now work together to deliver on the promise of the new competitiveness and growth objective so that we can support the risk-sharing required to hit the government’s ambitious goals.
Debates about rules and regulation can feel far removed from the business of economic growth but, if we get the balance right, the prize is real. Not just the modernised infrastructure that can support growth across the country but a financial services sector that can do even more to fuel prosperity: helping start-ups to become scale-ups; building the houses that give families the chance to rent or own their own home; and financing the infrastructure projects that build not just wind turbines or transport links but jobs and skills in every part of the UK.
Georges Elhedery, group chief executive, HSBC; Charlie Nunn, group chief executive, Lloyds Banking Group; Mike Regnier, chief executive, Santander UK; Paul Thwaite, group chief executive, NatWest; CS Venkatakrishnan, group chief executive, Barclays