CBI predicts high street hardship - papers 26 June

The business lobby group reported a slight improvement in its monthly distributive trends survey but warned that the retail sector remains troubled. The news will fuel fears of a wider economic slowdown in the coming months caused by rising living costs and families' stagnating incomes. The CBI said a balance of 9% of retailers reported that activity in June was weaker than a year ago. Although the figure was an improvement on May's -14%, the group's chief economic adviser, Ian McCafferty, warned that the outlook was dim. THE BELGIAN-DUTCH Bank Fortis said today it is accelerating its ma...