The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) eased further to 3.2% in June – down from 3.5% in May. However, the rate was slightly higher than the 3.1% economists expected but has eased from the 17-month high of 3.7% in April. While the level still far exceeds the 2% [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is scheduled to announce the UK inflation rate this morning, with analysts expecting the annual rate to be around 3.1%. Last month, the ONS reported Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) eased to 3.5% from a 17-month high of 3.7% in April – but still above the 2% target. However, many [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) today elected to keep interest rates on hold at the historic low of 1% for the 14th consecutive month, as widely expected. Interest rates are expected to remain on hold until at least 2011, as a result of uneven growth and low inflation. The news comes after the Bank of [...]
China is still under pressure to allow its currency, the yuan, to find its own level, in order to ease inflation and to prevent the economy from overheating. The World Bank is now urging the Chinese Government to allow the yuan, which is also referred to as the renminbi, to strengthen against other international currencies. [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) fell to 3.4% in May – down from the 17-month high of 3.7% in April. While the level still far exceeds the 2% target, the drop was quicker than the 3.5% many analysts had expected. The Bank of England’s Governor, Mervyn King, [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is scheduled to announce the UK inflation rate this morning, with analysts expecting the annual rate to be around 3.5%. Last month, the ONS reported Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose to a 17-month high of 3.7% in April – far exceeding the 2% target for the sixth consecutive month. [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is scheduled to announce the UK inflation rate tomorrow morning, with analysts expecting the annual rate to be around 3.1%. Last month, the ONS reported Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose to a 14-month high of 3.5% in January – a figure that was expected by analysts. The rise was [...]
Global markets rallied this morning as fears over the Dubai debt crisis started to ease. As the facts of Dubai’s debt crisis unravelled at the end of last week, shares across the world plunged but have today recovered as confidence returns. It emerged last week that state-owned company Dubai World wanted a six-month holiday from [...]
Figures released today from the US Labor Department show that the US economy shed 345,000 jobs in May, taking the unemployment rate up to a 25-year high of 9.4%. However, the number of jobs lost were far fewer than expected and follow the 539,000 jobs lost in the previous month. Service sector industries axed 120,000 [...]
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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