The Irish Government has outlined its austerity budget, aimed at saving €6 billion in spending cuts and tax hikes, designed the trim the country‘s budget deficit. Ireland is aiming to save €15 billion (£13 billion) between 2011 and the end of 2014 – 11% of the economy‘s annual output. The measures are a condition of [...]
The meeting of European finance ministers continues today with the debt crisis again to be high on the agenda. However, other issues including the EU budget and VAT are also expected to be discussed. Yesterday’s meeting ended with Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Eurogroup Chairman, telling reporters that there is no need to increase [...]
Spain’s finance minister has insisted that the country will not follow Greece and Ireland and seek a bailout. In a newspaper interview published today, Elena Salgado said: “Our fiscal adjustment is on track… we have done all the things that we had to do with our financial sector.” She added that Spain is “absolutely not” [...]
Portugal has, once again, denied that it does not require an EU bailout as speculation mounts that it will follow Greece and Ireland and request emergency funds. The euro has been falling over recent days over debt concerns in the euro zone. The single currency is falling as investors are nervous that the debt crisis [...]
Fears of contagion were raised again today after Spain’s borrowing costs surged to 5.330% from 5.148% – an eight-year high. Markets are nervous about the current euro zone situation and fears are growing that Spain and Portugal could be next in line for a bailout as yields on 10-year bonds rise to dangerous levels – [...]
The euro has today hit a fresh low despite news that Ireland’s rescue package has been signed off. The single currency dipped to $1.3181 – its lowest level since late September – as investors digested the news of Ireland‘s bailout. Full details of the rescue package, which is worth €85 billion (£72 billion), will be [...]
Bank of Ireland has today revealed it is looking to raise €2.2 billion (£1.86 billion) of capital, in a move designed to meet the conditions of the country’s bailout package. The capital raising would bring the crisis-torn lender close to nationalisation. The bank is currently 36% owned by the Government and the news emerged shortly [...]
Speculation has been mounting that Portugal is under pressure to seek a bailout from the EU rescue fund – however, the country continues to strongly deny the claims. European Commission President, Jose Manuel Barroso, has today also denied reports that the country is looking for a financial rescue package. Mr Barroso said the reports were [...]
Ireland’s Government has today, as expected, outlined its four-year austerity plan, in a move designed to bring down the country’s ballooning budget deficit. Ireland is aiming to save €15 billion (£13 billion) between 2011 and the end of 2014 – 11% of the economy‘s annual output. The measures include a reduction in the minimum wage [...]
Ireland will become the latest euro zone nation to unveil unpopular austerity measures, in a move designed to bring down the country’s budget deficit. Many other nations have introduced similar measures but they are likely to cause protests and trade unions have already warned of “civil unrest”. Ireland is aiming to save €15 billion (£13 [...]
Once again, fears for Portugal and Spain are raised as borrowing costs surge to high levels as Ireland’s debt crisis looks set to spread. Yields on 10-year Portuguese bonds rose to 6.9% – mimicking what happened in Greece and Ireland – just before they were forced to seek emergency aid. Meanwhile, 10-year Spanish bonds surged [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has today announced that Greece has met the conditions of its loan and will therefore receive the third instalment of its bailout loan. In May, the EU and the IMF agreed to loan €110 billion. The three-year rescue deal comprises €80 billion from the EU, with the rest coming from [...]
Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Eurogroup Chairman, has warned that Ireland’s debt crisis could spread to Portugal and Spain, despite assurances from both countries that Ireland’s emergency bailout will allay investors fears. Today, Portuguese Prime Minister, Jose Socrates, said it “has no need for any aid” and insisted that its difficulties are different to [...]
The emergency bailout for Ireland has resulted in political uncertainty after the Green Party (a partner in the Government) called for a general election. The Green Party’s leader, John Gormley, said: “We have now reached a point where the Irish people need political certainty to take them beyond the coming two months. “So, we believe [...]
Ireland’s Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, announced last night that his Government has made a formal request for an emergency bailout. In the euro zone’s second emergency rescue this year, Ireland will receive between €80 and €90 billion but the country’s finance minister, Brian Lenihan, said a precise figure has not been determined. The loan will [...]
Irish finance minister, Brian Lenihan, has today said the country is preparing to make a formal request for an emergency bailout. The exact amount of the loan, which will come from the EU rescue fund, which was established by European Governments and the International Monetary Fund after the Greek debt crisis earlier this year, was [...]
As Ireland looks set to accept a multi-billion euro loan, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and EU officials have commenced their investigation of Ireland’s bank books. Yesterday, Governor of the Irish central bank, Patrick Honohan, said the country is expected to accept a “very substantial loan”. The news comes as speculation has been mounting all [...]
According to the Governor of the Irish central bank, Patrick Honohan, Ireland is expected to accept a “very substantial loan”. The news comes as speculation has been mounting all week as to whether Ireland would accept emergency funding – something which its Government continues to deny, insisting it is fully funded until at least the [...]
Yesterday’s meeting in Brussels of euro zone finance ministers concluded with failing to convince Ireland to ask for financial aid. The Irish Government continues to reject a bailout, insisting it is fully funded until at least the middle of next year. However, the country’s financial situation was described as “our most pressing challenge” by EU’s [...]
There were fresh fears for the euro today after it emerged that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could be called in to assist the euro zone in resolving the banking crisis in Ireland. Ireland’s Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, has again, however, reiterated that his country has not asked for emergency funds and said the economy [...]
Phone fraudsters stealing bank card pins
Fraudsters using a phone scam to trick bank card holders into revealing their pin numbers stole £750,000 in the first four months of this year. This is the same amount stolen through this scam in the whole of last year. The fraudster telephones a bank customer, often someone elderly or vulnerable, telling them that their [...]
FSA rules out ban on interest-only mortgages
Speculation that the Financial Services Authority would ban interest-only mortgages as part of its Mortgage Market Review has proved to be unfounded. However, lenders will be required to monitor the performance of the investment product taken out by the customer to repay the mortgage at the end of its term. Investments are performing poorly because [...]
Bank of England may end free in-credit banking
A director of the Bank of England has warned that official intervention could be considered to end the ‘dangerous myth of free in-credit banking’. Andrew Bailey has already spoken out against free banking in relation to the mis-selling of financial products. In a speech made available to media, he reiterated his concern, saying that it [...]
Bank of England votes against more economic stimulus
The Bank of England voted against a further round of quantitative easing, at its latest Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. Just one member, David Miles, voted for further asset purchase to encourage growth in the UK economy, while the other eight members voted to keep the Bank’s quantitative easing programme steady at £325bn. The minutes [...]
Catalogue debt growing says helpline
Calls from people concerned about their debts with mail order catalogues accounted for more than 12 per cent of all calls received by National Debtline last year, compared with just 8 per cent in 2007. More people were concerned about catalogue debt than about payday loans, mortgage or rent, according to the Money Advice Trust [...]
Homeserve faces mis-selling investigation
HomeServe, which provides emergency insurance cover and domestic repairs to households in the UK, is to be investigated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Issues over the possible mis-selling of household emergency policies were uncovered last October during an internal review at the Walsall-based company. Homeserve’s call centre staff were found to be selling ‘Complete [...]
OFT warns Wonga over debt collection methods
Payday loan company Wonga used aggressive and misleading methods to collect debts from customers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has found. Wonga sent letter and emails to certain customers suggesting they had committed fraud and threatening to report them to the police if they did not act in the way Wonga suggested. The company [...]
NS&I re-launches investment account
National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has re-launched its Investment Account at a higher interest rate than it previously offered. The account now offers 0.75 per cent before tax, compared with between 0.2 and 0.3 per cent previously, depending on the account balance. Deposits and withdrawals on the account can no longer be made at Post [...]
Rightmove reports property downsizing trend
Two in five property owners planning to sell in the next year are planning to ‘trade down’, compared with one in four who plan to ‘trade up’. A survey by property website Rightmove found that moving to a smaller home is the main reason for moving in nine out of the ten regions in the [...]
More people failing to save for retirement
The proportion of people with no pension savings has grown from 20 per cent to 22 per cent over the past year, according to Scottish Widows’ latest survey. The pension provider surveyed 5,200 adults in the UK, aged 30 or over, and earning at least £10,000 a year, for its annual review of pensions. Ian [...]
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