Today’s budget, currently being delivered by Chancellor George Osborne, has bought with it many painful cuts. Firstly, VAT will be increased from 17.5% to 20% from 4 January, 2011 – this is expected to raise £13 billion a year, according to Osborne. However, “essentials” such as food, newspapers and children’s clothing will remain exempt from [...]
Today’s budget, which represents the tightest in 3 decades, is likely to bring painful tax hikes and harsh spending cuts. The tough measures are designed to deal with Britain’s record deficit of £155 billion and will be delivered today by Chancellor George Osborne at 1230 BST (1130 GMT). According to Mr Osborne, the massive spending [...]
In a bid to ease the pain from severe spending cuts, Chancellor George Osborne has said the coalition Government will proceed with its proposal to freeze council tax in England. Tomorrow’s budget is expected to bring tax hikes and deep benefit cuts so the council tax freeze is expected to help “millions of families…… at [...]
Chancellor George Osborne will deliver his budget on Tuesday and while many believe that the massive spending cuts pose a threat to the fragile recovery, he said they will save Britain from the problems which debt-stricken Greece faces. Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show today, Mr Osborne said: “Unless we take determined and concerted [...]
As the emergency budget approaches, Chancellor George Osborne has told the BBC that the massive spending cuts will save Britain from the problems which debt-stricken Greece faces. Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, Mr Osborne said: “Unless we take determined and concerted action, we will find our country on the road to ruin”. Cutting [...]
Gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £11.3 billion in May, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported. The figure is up 7% from £10.5 billion in April, and 10% from £10.2 billion a year earlier. While the mortgage market is more buoyant than a year ago, it remains “subdued”, according to the CML, with [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK Government borrowed £16 billion in May. However, the figure was lower than the £18 billion expected and was 8% less than the figure in May 2009. Overall, Government debt stands at £903 billion – the equivalent to 62.2% of GDP – the highest ever. [...]
Chancellor George Osborne will unveil his emergency budget next week and tax hikes are expected. However, according to business group, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), “punishing” tax rises could hit economic growth. A rise in capital gains tax (CGT) is expected. This is the levy firms or individuals pay on the profit gained from [...]
Chancellor George Osborne will proceed with a bank levy despite the failure to agree a universal tax at this weekend’s G20 summit. The summit, which was Mr Osborne’s first G20 meeting, saw no mention of a proposal for a bank levy. Speaking after the summit, the Chancellor said: “We’ll introduce a levy regardless of whether [...]
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Prime Minister David Cameron said action needed to be taken to deal with the “huge amount of debt” but promised to explain “the purpose behind the pain”. He said: “The country has got an overdraft. The interest on that overdraft is swallowing up things that the nation should [...]
Germany has announced this weekend that it plans to bring its deficit down to meet EU rules. Chancellor Angela Merkel is heading up a two-day cabinet meeting to devise a savings plan for the country’s budget, which is expected to see tough measures including road tolls, tax hikes and cuts to welfare. The country’s public [...]
Chancellor George Osborne has today unveiled details of the new coalition Government’s plans to shave £6.2 billion off public spending this financial year. The new Con/Lib coalition Government has said trimming the budget deficit is one of its priorities. However, Mr Osborne’s predecessor, Alistair Darling, warned that cutting the deficit too quickly could pose a [...]
At his first press conference as chancellor, George Osborne has today announced plans to launch a new fiscal watchdog, called the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). The OBR, which will be led by former Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member, Alan Budd, is set to ensure the Government is held responsible for how [...]
Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has today unveiled tough measures to deal with the country’s deficit, which is currently 11% of GDP. Spain plans to reduce the deficit by 4.7% by the end of next year and endeavours to achieve this by cutting pensions and civil service salaries. Speaking in parliament, the PM [...]
Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, is set to unveil massive budget cuts later as fears mount that the debt crisis in Greece may spread to Spain. The country’s deficit is currently 11% of GDP and Spain plans to reduce it by 4.7% by the end of next year. There have been fears that [...]
Brits are stretching their budgets by more than £40 billion a year, according to new research. A study by GE Home Money on behalf of Moneybasics.co.uk found that 77% of adults have set themselves a monthly spending limit. Of these, 60% confessed going over budget every month, with an average over-spend of £154. One in [...]
The European Commission has warned that additional measures may need to be taken by Portugal in order to cut its budget deficit. Like Greece, Portugal’s public finances are in a dire state and last month, international credit rating agency, Fitch, cut the country’s credit rating to ‘AA-’ with a negative outlook. According to Fitch, Portugal’s [...]
Chancellor Alistair Darling has been forced to defend Labour’s planned rise in National Insurance (NI) contributions after the Conservative Party said the hike would lead to job losses. Last month’s Budget confirmed that the Labour Government will raise National Insurance contributions by a further 0.5% from next year, on top of the 0.5% rise announced [...]
Chancellor Alistair Darling’s plans to automatically increase ISA limits in line with inflation are merely a “token gesture”, according to one industry expert. Andrew Hagger of financial advice site Moneynet said the new measures will cost banks more money to implement than the potential benefits for savers. “This is a token gesture that is likely [...]
In yesterday’s Budget, Chancellor Alistair Darling unveiled plans for rescued banks, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group, to lend more to businesses. In a legally binding agreement, RBS and Lloyds, which are 84% and 41% owned by the taxpayer respectively, were rescued at the height of the financial crisis but there have [...]
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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