STINGY business chiefs are holding up plans to increase the minimum wage to £7.

Commissioners sitting on the Low Pay Commission, which includes business boffins, union reps and academics, appeared yesterday to be split on whether to recommend a 50p rise to the government.

The minimum wage currently stands at £6.50 an hour for over-21s.

The news came as two separate surveys showed fat cats’ confidence in Chancellor George Osborne’s feted recovery had taken a massive tumble.

Separate figures from manufacturers’ association EEF found that the number of firms who expect economic conditions to improve had nearly halved from 70 per cent to 37 per cent. And 60 per cent of bosses surveyed by auditing giant Deloitte predicted uncertainty this year.

The chief finance officers surveyed by Deloitte forecast that wages at their firms would rise by 2.9 per cent in 2015 — well ahead of inflation, which is projected at just 1.3 per cent.

But the minimum wage has not increased in line with inflation in six of the eight years since 2006. Had it stayed stable in real terms each year, it would now be at £6.99 an hour, analysts say.

Now business chiefs on the expert panel are said to be divided – with some sections of industry saying they would be prepared to lump a rise, but retail employers bitterly opposed.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “In 2015 we need a fresh start. A low-wage economy is holding back growth. Government, employers and unions must work together to change that.

“This means increasing pay for those at the bottom, with a higher national minimum wage and more employers adopting the living wage.”

And a spokesman for general union GMB said: “This week GMB published data which shows that the real value of average earnings is 15 per cent below the level in 2008, mainly due to the rate of inflation.

“Pay rises need to be ahead of inflation for a considerable period of time to make up for the lost ground.”

The commission will meet in the coming weeks to recommend a rise to the government.