The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) has today called on the Government to prioritise business cost competitiveness in the wake of the Brexit vote.
The Association warned that the pressure on export prices to the UK required a coordinated response from industry and government on all business costs including those influenced by the government itself.
The latest CSO Inflation Figures today show that the annual inflation figure was 0.5% while the monthly figure for July was minus 0.2%. The sub-index for Services rose by 3%, while Goods decreased by 3.1%.
The ISME has called on the Government to ensure that all state imposed business costs are benchmarked internationally and to stand firm on public sector wage demands.
Commenting on today's figures, ISME CEO, Mark Fielding said, "We continue to be a high cost economy which is rapidly losing any competitive gains made since the recession. The UK market has become much more challenging for Irish SME exporters, due to the fall in sterling."
He added, "The one answer is increased productivity and cost control. The concern from SME owners is that the Government has abdicated its responsibility in this area."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
