Higher food and clothing prices helped to push inflation up slightly to 3.5 per cent in March, from 3.4 per cent in February. The rise in inflation on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) was unexpected and represents a break in a downward trend which started in September. It is a setback to the Bank of [...]
The UK and German economies may have reached a positive turning point, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation, which just a couple of weeks ago said that the UK was in recession. The OECD’s latest forecast is based on its composite leading indicators (CLIs), which are trusted to reliably predict the economic outlook for [...]
News that the UK’s service sector grew more than expected last month has generated optimism that the economy could avoid falling back into recession. The Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the service industry increased to 55.3 in March, from 53.8 in February, with a reading of above 50 representing growth. Growth in the service [...]
The UK economy is expected to contract by 0.4 per cent on an annualised basis in the first three months of 2012, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This represents a contraction of 0.1 per cent compared with the final quarter of 2011 and means that the UK is returning to [...]
Delivering his third Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne, said that it would help those who aspired to do better for themselves and for their families. ‘Britain is going to earn its way in the world’ he said. He promised far reaching tax reform, creating a system that was simple to understand for ordinary [...]
The latest official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that inflation fell to 3.4 per cent in February, from 3.6 per cent in the previous month, according to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI). Using the Retail Prices Index (RIP) measurement, which includes housing costs such a mortgage interest and council tax, inflation [...]
The Family and Parenting Institute has called on the Chancellor to avoid delivering a ‘Break-Up Budget’ on Wednesday. The charity, which aims to make the UK a better place for families and children, fears that a budget which puts family incomes under further pressure could threaten family life. The divorce rate in England and Wales [...]
The question of whether or not to scrap the 50p income tax rate is dividing the coalition government in the run up to the budget on 21 March. Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne is determined to reduce income tax on earnings over £150,000, but the proposal has been met with disapproval by Lib Dem [...]
Speaking at the Lib Dem’s spring conference yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said it was a ‘basic justice’ that the highest earners should pay the most tax. In his keynote speech at the Gateshead conference, Mr Clegg said that the wealthiest people in society should pay more tax help fund tax cuts for the [...]
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) expects the UK economy to grow more slowly than previously forecast and says it faces “serious challenges”. In its quarterly economic forecast the BCC forecast growth of 0.6 per cent in 2012, a slight decrease from its previous forecast of 0.8 per cent. It expects the government’s efforts to [...]
The government expects to either achieve or exceed its target of borrowing no more than £127bn this year, after recording its biggest surplus for four years in January. In the tax year to date the government has borrowed £93.5bn and in January it made a net repayment of £7.75bn, excluding financial interventions. Although a surplus [...]
Inflation fell sharply in January to 3.6 per cent on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), from 4.2 per cent in December, according to the latest official figures. Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation, which includes housing costs such as mortgage interest and council tax, fell to 3.9 per cent from 4.8 per cent. Although CPI inflation [...]
The bank of England is expected to launch another round of quantitative easing (QE) this week, in the hope of preventing the UK falling into another recession, after the economy contracted by 0.2 per cent at the end of last year. The bank is likely to pump at least £50 billion into the economy by [...]
The UK economy needs a fiscal boost of £10 billion to £20 billion in order to avoid another recession, a leading think tank said today. In its annual Green Budget, The Institute for Fiscal Studies calls for Chancellor George Osborne to include a short-term fiscal stimulus in his budget. This would buffer the UK economy [...]
UK government debt rose to over £1 trillion for the first time in December, despite a fall in public sector borrowing. Excluding bank bailouts and other financial interventions, public sector borrowing fell £2.2 billion to £13.7 billion in December according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics. This was lower than City [...]
The economic gap between cities doing relatively well during the economic downturn and those that have been hard hit by the recession, is expected to widen. A report by the Centre for Cities, a research and policy organisation focused on improving the economic performance of UK cities, suggests that a combination of weak growth in [...]
This month’s official figures show that inflation has fallen from 4.8 per cent to 4.2 per cent but two new studies show that older age groups suffer the most from high inflation, and at 4.2 per cent it is still well above the government’s 2 per cent target. Saga’s monthly Price Index shows that since [...]
The rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation fell to 4.2 per cent in December, from 4.8 per cent in November, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is the third consecutive month that inflation has fallen and December’s figures represents the biggest monthly fall since April 2009. Inflation [...]
Britain’s economy stagnated in the final quarter of 2011 and is “very likely” to contract in the first half of 2012 according to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). The euro zone debt crisis caused the economy to stagnate in 2011 and it has failed to improve this year, with the survey suggesting that one [...]
In its New Year report the CBI has called on UK businesses to increase their export activity to help the UK re-balance its economy. The CBI believes that this could boost the UK’s economy by £20 billion over the next eight years. The organisation is also calling on the private sector to invest £140 billion [...]
Government to crack down on hidden credit card charges
Tougher rules are to be brought in to protect consumers from hidden credit card charges and premium-rate phone calls to customer service departments. The Government has launched a consultation on how to implement the changes, which are required under a European Consumer Rights Directive and will apply to countries across the European Union. The new [...]
Which? report claims free banking is a myth
A new report by consumer group Which? highlights the high charges that can be applied to ‘free’ current accounts. While these accounts are free while in credit, charges can be applied if a customer goes overdrawn, especially if they do so without permission. Customers can also be charged for overseas transactions and for agreed overdrafts. [...]
Households more optimistic about their finances
Household finances are still deteriorating, but at a slower rate, according to the Markit household finance index. The index increased from 37.5 in July to 38.9 in August, with figures above 50 representing a positive change in household finances, and figures below 50 representing a negative change. The August figure represents the third consecutive monthly [...]
Think tank calls for council housing sell off
The Policy Exchange, a leading UK think tank, is calling for expensive social housing to be sold as it becomes vacant. This could raise £4.5 billion a year and the money could be used to create the largest social house building programme since the 1970s, the think tank suggests in a new report. Between 80,000 [...]
Barclays appoints new chairman
Barclays has announced the appointment of Sir David Walker as its new chairman. He will take over from Marcus Agius who resigned from the role after Barclays was fined £290 million by regulators in the UK and US for manipulating Libor, the interbank lending rate. The appointment of Sir David, a respected and experienced banker, [...]
Post Office stepping up mortgage offering
The Post Office is expanding its mortgage service with the introduction of mortgage specialists in its branches. Mortgages have been available from the Post Office since 2009, but applications have had to be made online or over the phone. It currently offers mortgage with deposits as low as 10 per cent and plans to enhance [...]
Help Loan closed after breaching money-laundering rules
Payday Loan company MCO Capital has been closed down by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and fined £544,000 after failing to check the identity of its borrowers. The firm, which traded as Help Loan, was targeted by criminals and cheated of more than £1.5m by the fraudsters due to its negligence. The criminals stole [...]
Health insurance becoming unaffordable warns Bupa
The rising cost of private healthcare is pushing health insurance in the UK up to unaffordable levels, according to international healthcare group Bupa. A lack of competition among private hospitals has led to the cost of treatment rising, and the insurer says that this could lead to health insurance becoming unaffordable. An increase in the [...]
Bank of England forecasts zero economic growth
The Bank of England does not expect the UK economy to grow at all this year according to its latest quarterly report. It had previously forecast growth of 2 per cent for 2012 but recent gloomy economic data has led to the growth forecast being revised downwards. The forecast for medium-term growth has also been [...]
Standard Chartered in money-laundering scandal
Standard Chartered has become the latest UK bank to be accused of illegal activity. It has been accused by the New York department of financial services of hiding $250 billion worth of illegal transactions with Iranian banks between 2001 and 2010. The US regulator claims that the bank, which has wholesale banking, corporate finance and [...]
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