At a speech at the insurers Lloyd’s of London, Chancellor George Osborne has admitted that recent weak economic data had led to a downgrade in growth. Speaking at the dinner in London, the Chancellor said: “We warned repeatedly that the recovery would be choppy.” However, despite the sluggish economic recovery, the Government is sticking with [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed UK public sector borrowing fell slightly last month. According to the ONS, public sector borrowing fell to £15.15 billion last month compared with £16.46 billion in May last year. The figure was lower than analysts’ expectations of £15.75 billion and was attributed to an increase in [...]
In his Mansion House speech this evening, Chancellor George Osborne is expected to confirm that banks will have to ring-fence their retail operations so they are protected from losses from investment banking. The Chancellor is also expected to suggest that banks will have to hold more capital – a recommendation of the Independent Commission on [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose to an annual rate of 4% in January – the highest rate since November 2008. The latest figures takes inflation to double the target of 2% – where it has been for more than a year. The latest figure prompted Governor of [...]
Chancellor George Osborne is today expected to announce that a deal has been reached between the Government and the banks with regard to lending targets and restraints on pay. The report comes a day after Mr Osborne confirmed he is maintaining the levy on banks, raising an additional £800 million this year and £2.5 billion [...]
The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR), which was established in May, is today expected to revise its growth forecast for the UK for the 2010 year. The independent body, which was set up by the coalition Government to assess the state of public finances, is expected to revise its growth forecast to 1.7% from the [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is scheduled to announce the UK inflation rate for October tomorrow morning, with analysts expecting the annual rate to hold steady at 3.1%. With inflation way above the 2% target, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King, will be forced to write a letter to Chancellor George [...]
Ahead of the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham today, Chancellor George Osborne has revealed that child benefit is to be scrapped for higher rate taxpayers from 2013. Currently, child benefit is paid at £20.30 a week for the first child and £13.40 a week for any other children. For example, a mother of three would [...]
Speaking to an invited audience at Bloomberg’s London offices, Chancellor George Osborne has today defended his massive spending cuts and insists there is light at the end of the tunnel. However, he agreed with Mervyn King’s prediction last week, who said the economic recovery will be “choppy”. He added that there is an improvement in [...]
Chancellor George Osborne will today reveal plans to simplify the UK tax system, in a bid to encourage investment and drive economic growth. Since coming to power, the coalition Government has argued that the UK tax system is too complicated and has been proposing to make it simpler. Mr Osborne is set to announce that [...]
George Osborne’s emergency budget “takes from the poor to give to the rich” according to campaigners for a fairer tax system. The Chancellor of the Exchequer has failed to hold banks responsible for the financial carnage they caused in the credit crunch and the subsequent recession, the Robin Hood Tax campaign said. ”The Chancellor called [...]
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 [...]
In his first Mansion House speech last night, Chancellor George Osborne confirmed that the Bank of England will hold the main role in regulating the UK financial sector. The move was widely expected and comes as City Watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), will “cease to exist in its current form”, said the Chancellor. The [...]
Chancellor George Osborne is today expected to hand over more responsibility to the Bank of England. The move comes just a few days after the BBC reported that City Watchdog, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), will be retained – as a subsidiary of the Bank of England. It was expected that the watchdog would be [...]
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 [...]
New Chancellor, George Osborne, is today set to wield the axe by announcing plans to cut £6.2 billion off the £156 billion deficit this 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 [...]
New Chancellor George Osborne gave a speech to business leaders at the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) annual dinner last night and has outlined plans to reform corporation tax. He told business leaders that the new Government is committed to lower and simpler corporate tax rates. At the emergency Budget, on 22 June, Mr Osborne [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
European equities markets were higher Tuesday as banks came back from big declines on Monday, helped by a statement from Societe Generale’s (Euronext: GLE) CEO that his bank is healthy. The FTSE 100 was up 0.87 percent to 5,174.25 in London, while the FTSE 250 added 0.27 percent to 10,011, with banks the best performers [...]
Rics: Housing market remains in the doldrums
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) has today reported that the UK housing market remained weak in August with house prices falling further. According to the Institution, homeowners remain reluctant to put their properties up for sale, while buyers continue to struggle to secure a mortgage and remain uncertain about the economic climate. The [...]
CML: Mortgage lending edges higher in July
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported the number of loans for house purchase rose in July. According to the Council, there were 48,400 loans advanced for house purchase in the month – up by 1,000 from June’s figure but almost 7,000 lower when compared with July 2010. Commenting on today’s figures, Paul Smee, [...]
UK inflation edges higher in August
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose to annual rate of 4.5% last month from July’s rate of 4.4%. However, the figure was in line with analysts’ expectations. Higher inflation continues to be led by rising food costs but the main reason behind last month’s rise was a 5.1% [...]
Fresnillo down on silver prices
European equities markets were lower Monday on the possibility that Greece could default soon and on speculation that Moody’s Investors Service could cut its rating on several big banks with holdings tied to Greece. The FTSE 100 was down 1.63 percent to 5,129.62 in London, while the FTSE 250 dropped 1.65 percent to 9,983.75 as [...]
IFS warns of tough times for UK households
A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned that households will be squeezed for the next decade as they suffer from the harsh spending cuts introduced by the Government. It said households are suffering one of the worst attacks on their finances since the Second World War and that the impact of [...]
ICB final report recommends ring-fencing
The Independent Commission on Banking’s (ICB) final report has been published today and is recommending that UK banks should ring-fence their retail banking operations. According to the report, ring-fencing would protect banks from riskier investment banking divisions and would “make it easier and less costly to resolve banks that get into trouble”. The ICB, which [...]
Tullow Oil leads 100 in London
European equities markets were significantly lower Friday on an increased possibility that Greece could default on its debt as soon as this weekend, raising the concern level over the European region’s debt problems and ratcheting up worries that the economic recovery is faltering. Additionally, markets reacted to the resignation of European Central Bank board member [...]
SMMT: UK car sales rise in August
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have revealed UK car sales saw their first rise in 14 months in August. According to the trade body, car sales rose by 7.3% in August compared with the same month in 2010, with sales of smaller cars rising by more than 30%. The Ford Fiesta remained [...]
Factory gate inflation higher than expected in August
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed UK producer output prices held steady in August – remaining at the highest annual rate since October 2008. According to the ONS, output prices (factory gate) annual inflation for all manufactured products held steady at July’s upwardly revised reading of 6.1% in August. The figures were [...]
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