According to a study published today by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), these purported performance-linked payouts are higher than those recorded in 2009, when the worst banking crisis since the 1930s saw the City’s bonus pool dip to £5.3bn.
The analysis based on figures from the Office of National Statistics reported in The Guardian shows City pay rises have emerged well ahead of the 2% average offered to the rest of the UK against the retail price index – often used as a benchmark for wage negotiations – at 5.3% in March.
Lord Oakeshott, the Liberal Democrat peer who resigned as a party spokesman in protest at what he saw as the coalition’s failure to curb banking industry excesses, said: “Real incomes are now being seriously squeezed in the rest of Britain but City pay just sails merrily on.”
A union spokesperson said: “Essential services are being cut, workers are seeing a real-term cut in wages as prices rise higher and faster than their salaries and many are at risk of losing their jobs.
“Despite all this hardship it’s very quickly gone back to business as usual in the City.”
