Calls on May for stimulus for infrastructure from across political spectrum

Theresa May this morning faces calls to swiftly announce additional infrastructure investment in order to stimulate the economy.

There has been speculation that May will follow her shift in economic policy represented by abandoning the target to bring the budget into surplus with additional investment. She said in her Monday campaign speech that there was a need for greater focus on productivity, including through "more Treasury-backed bonds".

The Guardian commented that dropping interest rates alone would "not stimulate further growth as rates are already very near what's called the zero lower bound" and further quantitative easing on top of the £375bn already pumped into the financial system would also not work. "The reasl boost to growth will only come with a big burst of public spending on infrastructure, services and benefits... May has talked about infrastructure bonds but needs to go further than that."

Meanwhile The Evening Standard reported an Institute of Directors call for May to "act swiftly to boost the animal spirits of business" through a wider economic programme including infrastructure investment. She acknowledged the need to invest to improve productivity on Monday.