The Fresh Produce Consortium has urged caution on a leading think-tank's recommendation to drive down the pound for the sake of UK manufacturing.

Sterling's strength in world markets is ruining the secondary sector, leading economists the Item Club said on January 21.

Bosses at the organisation say that the Bank of England should try to weaken the pound, in order to make UK goods more affordable to foreign consumers.

Reacting to the news, the Fresh Produce Consortium's Douglas Pattie admitted that a weaker pound would stimulate growth in the UK struggling fresh produce export sector.

He said: 'Currently those companies that are, or have, exported are having trouble because of the strong currency.

Asked whether he believed more would try to sell abroad under a lower value sterling he said: 'I'm sure there would. There are a lot of companies that have been involved in the past [but are no longer] because of the strength of the currency.' But the industry representative warned that selling sterling on the financial markets to drive it down may be a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Concerned about rising prices for foreign product, he said: 'I think in our industry, there's as much of disadvantage as an advantage because 80 per cent of all fruit is imported.' The most common way of stimulating growth is by reducing interest rates, but financial experts are worried this is overheating consumer spending while having little effect on manufacturing output – thus creating a dangerous two-tier economy.'

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