Greece’s finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, has said talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about emergency loans are progressing well. Last week, the debt-ridden economy called for emergency funding from the IMF and its euro zone partners. Emergency loans of up to €30 billion (£26 billion) are expected to be provided in the first year, [...]
The euro has started to recover after details of a loan package emerged over the weekend for debt-ridden Greece. The currency rose by more than 2 cents (1.5%) against the dollar, to $1.3672, while it also gained on the pound to 88.408p. Yesterday, finance ministers of the euro zone nations agreed to provide emergency loans [...]
There are renewed fears over the Greek debt crisis after a hammering of bond prices by investors took the yield on short-term Greek debt up to 8% yesterday – almost 3% higher than in October 2009. There is now speculation that Greece will be seeking a bailout sooner rather than later with one analyst suggesting [...]
The euro has recovered from a 10-month low today after the two-day EU summit, which commenced in Brussels yesterday, saw a deal reached to help Greece through its debt crisis. According to Brussels, the package will total €22 billion (£20 billion) and will include help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). So far the euro [...]
Crisis-hit Greece has come to a standstill again today after workers staged the third general strike in as many weeks. The further strike comes after austerity measures to rescue Greece’s debt-stricken economy angered Greek trade unions. Greece is currently taking action to reduce its public deficit from 12% to 8% of GDP this year. The [...]
Japan Airlines (JAL), which last month filed for bankruptcy protection, has today posted a net loss of 177.9 billion yen (£1.31 billion, $2 billion) for the nine months to December 2009. The airline’s executive officer, Norikazu Saito, told reporters it suffered an operating loss of 120.8 billion yen on sales revenue of 1.14 trillion yen [...]
Greece’s national statistics service, NSS, has today revealed the country’s unemployment rate rose from 9.8% in October to 10.6% in November. There are now more than half a million people unemployed in the country. The figures come prior to the EU summit meeting in Brussels today, which will see European leaders discuss the issues facing [...]
Greek unions have today vowed to strike on Wednesday to protest against the Government’s austerity measures. Last week, Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, announced tough austerity measures to tackle the country’s spiralling debt. Measures include a public sector pay freeze, a hike in taxes and an increase to the retirement age. Spyros Papaspyros, president of [...]
International ratings agency, Standard & Poor’s (S&P), has cut Greece’s credit rating by one notch, to BBB+ from A-minus. The downgrade came just a few hours after the Greek government unveiled measures including a 10% cut in public spending. Last week, credit rating agency, Fitch, also cut Greece’s sovereign debt rating to a decade-low to [...]
The UK branch of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) is warning that Alistair Darling’s bid to postpone tackling Britain’s debt mountain until after next year’s General Election creates a real risk of the country’s credit rating being downgraded. The body, which represents practitioners in corporate renewal and turnaround management, believes the delay could have “severe” [...]
At today’s Pre-Budget Report, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling unveiled measures to claw back money in order to pay off the UK’s spiralling debt. Mr Darling confirmed there would be a one-off 50% tax on bankers’ bonuses paid above £25,000. The Chancellor said the banks, rather than the bankers, will pay the tax and [...]
Britain’s debt problem is on a par with that being faced by many other countries, an economic expert has claimed. David Kern, economic adviser to the British Chamber of Commerce, said that while the UK’s deficit might be worse than other nations, its actual level of debt is far smaller. “Although the deficit is bigger, [...]
Half of Brits over 50 use more than one credit card to manage their finances, research by Saga has discovered. One in fourteen (7%) of over 50s carry five or more credit cards in their wallet. However, almost three quarters (73%) of over 50s have never missed a payment deadline, compared to half (53%) of [...]
Students are racking up crippling debts because they’re not being taught the difference between student loans and other forms of credit, a financial education charity warned this week. Chris Tapp, director of Credit Action, said because it’s “basically impossible” to get into difficulties with student loans, students are given the message that it’s fine to [...]
One in sixteen Brits are better off because of the recession, according to new research by Yorkshire Bank. In the north-east, more than one in five (21%) are financially stronger compared with before the recession. Lower interest rates have put more money into the pockets of mortgage payers, while decreased VAT has generated extra bargains [...]
Figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that UK public sector borrowing soared by £13 billion in June, up from £7.5 billion a year ago. This takes the nation’s net debt to £798.8 billion – an increase of £157 billion compared with a year earlier. While the figure was lower [...]
Brits living in north west England have been hardest hit by the recession, new research has discovered. Seven in ten households in the north west have significantly changed their lifestyles since the recession. This is compared to a national average of 64%. Two thirds (66%) of those in the north west have reined in their [...]
Consumers tempted to finance purchases on credit “have been scared into being responsible” by rising unemployment figures, a financial expert said this week. Motley Fool director David Kuo said media reports of soaring unemployment have encouraged Brits to take a sensible approach towards finances. People are “rightly concerned” to be worried about their jobs as [...]
One in five of the world’s workforce are dipping into savings to pay off debt, a new study has revealed. Over 20% of workers have raided the piggybank in the last year to lighten their burden of debt, whilst 13% have stopped saving entirely. In the UK, China, the US, and India, savings have been [...]
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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