GovWire

Lord Mayor, Governor, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Its an honour to be here with you this evening.

Thank you to the City of London Corporation for hosting us.

It is a privilege to follow the Lord Mayors address

and to give my first Mansion House speech.

As the Lord Mayor said, there are so many reasons to be optimistic about our country

and I absolutely share his ambition for our potential.

The potential of our financial services sector.

The potential we have to make Britain more competitive.

And critically, the potential that we have to grow our economy.

That is why

both in opposition and now in government

improving economic growth has been at the very heart of everything that I am seeking to achieve.

In my Mais lecture earlier this year

I set out my view that we are in a moment of flux

and a new approach was required to build secure and sustainable growth

on the platform of stability, investment and reform.

When I arrived at the Treasury just over four months ago

I said on day one that economic growth was now our national mission

as I set out plans to tackle some of the longstanding issues in the supply-side of our economy.

And two weeks ago, I delivered my first budget as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

It was a once in a parliament budget to wipe the slate clean.

It was a budget that tackled two elements in our plan for economic growth.

First, it provided economic stability

by putting our public finances back on a firm footing.

That required difficult choices.

On spending, on welfare, and on tax.

But by making those tough choices now

we are providing stability for the long-term.

Because instability in our public finances leads to instability in our financial markets.

That is not good for investment.

That is not good for growth.

And it is not good for business.

So by drawing a line under instability

business can now plan for the future.

And we have provided stability for our public services too

which now deliver within the spending envelope that they have been set

and through reform, they must live within their means.

The second step that we took to improve economic growth at the budget

was to change course on public investment.

Public investment was set to fall by nearly 1% of GDP under the plans that I inherited.

That would have held back our growth potential for many years to come.

As the International Monetary Fund have set out

low levels of public investment have been a major contributing factor to the UKs weak growth performance

not least, because it makes it harder to catalyse the private investment that we so badly need.

Now, as a result of the measures that we have taken

public investment will be 100bn higher over the next five years

creating jobs

and driving growth and opportunity across the United Kingdom.

This will be delivered alongside a series of vital guardrails

to ensure that spending delivers the very best value-for-money

provides returns for taxpayers

catalyses private investment

and significantly boosts growth and productivity.

Because of the steps that we took

the Office of Budget Responsibility have set out that, in the long-term

our policies would permanently increase the supply capacity of our economy.

But that does not represent the height of my ambition.

I know that we can do more

to go further and faster in realising our growth potential.

So that is why economic growth will continue to be the central mission in the weeks, months and years ahead.

Having focused on economic stability and public investment in the budget

tonight I will set out the steps that we are taking

to drive growth across the other key areas that have long been my priority.

Increasing private investment.

And reforming our economy.

Let me begin with our plans to increase investment.

More investment is how we spur innovation and growth.

It is how we boost the efficiency and the capacity of our economy.

And it is how we create the new opportunities and high-skilled jobs in every part of our country.

Today, I am focusing on how we continue to attract investment across the world.

And how we increase private investment

by working in partnership with business

and specifically, with the financial services sector.

Before entering politics, I worked as an economist at the Bank of England.

And then in financial services.

Before we came into government

I was clear that financial services must play a central part in our economic vision

and our plans for economic growth.

Because I know that this sector is the crown jewel in our economy.

It employs 1.2m people, from London to Edinburgh, and from Manchester to Belfast.

It is one of the countrys largest and most productive sectors, accounting for 9% of our economic output.

And it is a global success story, as the Lord Mayor has said: we are the second largest exporter of financial services in the G7.

But we cannot take the UKs status as a global financial centre for granted.

In a highly competitive world

we need to earn that status

and we need to work to keep it.

I have been determined to do just that since becoming Chancellor.

Just one week into office, I welcomed the biggest changes to the UKs listing regime in over three decades

to reform our capital markets

increasing the flexibility for firms and founders of British high growth companies

so we have more British success stories

like Raspberry PI and Applied Nutrition

IPO right here in the UK.

In our first month, we launched the landmark Pensions Review, and I will return to that later in my speech.

And in September, we announced the final stage of our post-crisis reforms to banks capital requirements

marking the end of the journey to ensure that banks are well-capitalised

working side by side with the Governor

strengthening the resilience of our banking system

whilst protecting banks ability to lend to small and medium enterprises

and also for infrastructure.

Now, we must build on the steps weve already taken.

In the Spring, we will publish the first ever Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy.

This will give the financial services sector the confidence it needs to invest.

Financial services is one of the eight growth sectors in our modern industrial strategy

recognising that, just as in other parts of the economy

we must constantly work to remove barriers to growth and investment.

This approach will ensure that we promote our strengths across the world.

And today, we are setting out the five, priority growth opportunities on which that strategy will focus

Fintech

sustainable finance

asset management and wholesale services

insurance and reinsurance

and capital markets.

And we will work in partnership with you

on the development of the strategy

ahead of its publication in the Spring

driven forward by our City Minister, Tulip Siddiq

By providing the basis of long-term stability for the sector

we are laying the foundations for more private investment.

The UK has the lowest levels of business investment in the G7 as a percentage of GDP.

In the Budget, we confirmed our plans to capitalise the flagship impact investor, the National Wealth Fund

to invest in the industries of the future

and catalyse over 70bn of private investment.

And in the last month alone, the National Wealth Fund has struck a number of deals

including funding to deliver full fibre broadband across the UK

and to support the building of new infrastructure in Wales.

The PRA, the Treasury and the National Wealth Fund will work together to crowd in investment by insurers

in productive assets

taking full advantage of the new Solvency UK regulatory regime.

That includes investment in clean energy projects.

I want London to be the place where the billions needed to finance the energy transition are financed

and we have already mobilised significant private capital through the International Investment Summit last month

including 4bn for the East Anglia 2 wind farm

and 2bn to build new solar farms in Essex, Yorkshire and Wiltshire.

This week, the Prime Minister welcomed the launch of the Climate Investment Fund Capital Market Mechanism on the London Stock Exchange.

Tonight we are building on these foundations to deliver a world-leading sustainable finance framework.

This will be built in partnership with industry

and we will be co-launching the Transition Finance Council alongside the City of London Corporation.

This presents a huge opportunity for the UK financial services sector

and I am determined that we win this race for global business.

Alongside our National Wealth Fund

we must ensure that there

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