The French Government has announced the country’s retirement age will be lifted from 60 to 62 by 2018, as part of a sweeping overhaul to its pension system. The new measures are to be implemented to cut France’s pension costs and reduce public borrowing. However, the shake-up has met with public anger after tens of [...]
Saving rather than borrowing has been the “major victim” of the credit crunch, according to new research published this week. The study by unbiased.co.uk found that savings levels dropped from £38.7 billion between April and June 2008 to £19.9 billion between July and September 2008 and haven’t recovered since. In the first three months of [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK Government borrowed £10 billion in April. However, while the figure represented the highest amount for April on record, it was less than the £13 billion many economists had expected. Overall, Government debt stands at £893.4 billion – the equivalent to 62.1% of GDP. However, [...]
Consumers are being more careful about how much they borrow, a debt advice charity has claimed. The Money Advice Trust said many consumers are wary of credit because of the financial problems that can be caused by being in debt. “We think the general attitude to debt has changed,” said Joanna Elson, MAT chief executive. [...]
Savers wanting to earn a good rate of interest while avoiding high street banks now have an alternative option. Zopa matches up people who have spare cash to lend with those who want to borrow money. John Hudson, professor of economics at Bath University, hailed Zopa as “a new way of borrowing and lending money”. [...]
In a test debt issue today, Greece saw strong demand for an over-subscribed bond which, according to Finance Minister, George Papaconstantinou, demonstrates that Athens is able to meet its borrowing targets “without hindrance”. The “successful” bond issue was a key test of investor confidence in the debt-ridden economy but the yield was far higher than [...]
Greece’s woes intensified today after ratings agency Fitch downgraded the country’s credit rating amid fears over its rescue plan. Fitch downgraded Greece’s rating by two notches, from BBB+ to BBB-, as the cost of Greek borrowing continues to soar. The BBB- rating is significant since it is the lowest rating that qualifies as an investment [...]
With the end of recession consumers are re-embracing the mantra “buy it now, pay for it later”. Brits are returning to their old habits of spend and borrow, indicating that the thrift of the recession may have been a short-lived fad. Figures from unbiased.co.uk show that at the end of 2009, consumers were borrowing 62p [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK Government borrowed a further £12.4 billion in February. However, while the figure represented the highest amount for February on record, it was less than economists had forecast. Overall, debt stands at £857.75 billion – the equivalent to 60.3% of GDP, up from 50.5% a [...]
The Federal Reserve has announced borrowing by American consumers grew for the first time in a year in January. According to the central bank, consumer credit rose 2.4% or $5 billion (£3.3 billion) compared with the previous month to a total of $2.45 trillion. It was the first increase after a record 11 months of [...]
Figures from the Bank of England today revealed that new borrowing on credit cards, loans and overdrafts rose for the first time since June 2009. Consumer credit rose £52 million in December, which surprised analysts who had expected a £400 million fall. For the first time since June, borrowing outstripped the amount being paid back [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed that the UK’s public sector net borrowing hit a record high of £20.3 billion in November. While the figure was less than the £23 billion analysts had expected, it was still the highest for any month since the ONS began gathering data over 16 years ago. [...]
Prior to Wednesday’s Pre-Budget Report, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has outlined plans to slash public spending by £12 billion over four years – 25% more than originally thought a few months ago. Mr Brown will endeavour to show how Labour plans to slash the UK’s budget deficit by half. In a speech today, the PM [...]
Research has revealed that the number of people contacting the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) for help with debt problems has surged by 20% in the last 12 months. The independent charity, which was established 70 years ago to help people with war-related problems, provides information and advice to help people with their money, legal, consumer [...]
In the latest issue of Deloitte’s Economic Review, leading economist Roger Bootle warns that Britons are about to face “the great squeeze”. Mr Bootle, formerly chief economist at HSBC and now managing director of Capital Economics, describes the UK’s public finances as “in the worst shape for at least half a century”. He expects public [...]
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed the UK’s public sector net borrowing surged to a record £16.1 billion in August, up from £9.8 billion a year ago. August’s rise takes net borrowing to £65.3 billion for the five months of the financial year so far, said the ONS, as the recession [...]
Consumers have seen very little benefit from the Bank of England holding its base rate at a record low of 0.5% for six months, a consumer advice site pointed out this week. Interest rates on savings accounts have dropped, while rates on mortgages, credit cards, and personal loans have continued to rise, said Moneyfacts.co.uk. Research [...]
The Co-operative Bank and Ecology Building Society are two of the best institutions for ethically minded mortgage holders, it emerged this week. Virginia Wallis, money expert at the Guardian newspaper, recommended the two lenders to homeowners with “ethical ideals”. Co-operative’s tracker mortgage charges 2.49% above the base rate, and is available at up to 75% [...]
The Bank of England has today reported that the total amount of personal debt in the UK has declined for the first time since records began – more than 16 years ago. The economic downturn and fears over rising unemployment has meant consumers are reducing their debt with personal borrowing falling by £600 million in [...]
Leeds Building Society has launched a new fixed-rate mortgage for customers with a deposit of at least 25%. Interest on the five-year mortgage is fixed at 5.35%, and customers can borrow at up to 75% loan-to-value (LTV). Borrowers can make up to 10% capital repayments each year without penalty. Kim Rebecchi, Leeds director of sales [...]
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 [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
