Global stock markets were rocked yesterday with the news that euro zone banks may face funding difficulties after it was revealed that the European Central Bank (ECB) would not be offering 12-month loans. A year ago, the ECB was forced to offer European banks 12-month loans at low interest rates to help them survive the [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) today elected to keep interest rates on hold at the historic low of 1% for the 13th 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 [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) today elected to keep interest rates on hold at the historic low of 1% for the eleventh 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 [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) today elected to keep interest rates on hold at the historic low of 1% for the tenth 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. ECB President, Jean-Claude Trichet, said: “Overall, the [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) today elected to keep interest rates on hold at the historic low of 1% for the ninth consecutive month, as widely expected. Interest rates are expected to remain on hold for the long-term as a result of uneven growth and low inflation. The euro zone as a whole emerged from [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) today elected to keep interest rates on hold at the historic low of 1% for the eighth consecutive month, as widely expected. Interest rates are expected to remain on hold for the long-term as a result of uneven growth and low inflation. The euro zone as a whole emerged from [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) today elected to keep interest rates on hold at the historic low of 1% for the seventh consecutive month, as widely expected. ECB president, Jean-Claude Trichet, told reporters at a news conference that the euro zone economy is expected to grow at a moderate pace in 2010. He also added [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) today elected to keep interest rates on hold at the historic low of 1% for the sixth consecutive month. The news came shortly after the Bank of England announced it was keeping interest rates at 0.5%. Furthermore, the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, opted to keep interest rates at [...]
According to the European Central Bank (ECB), bank lending to companies within the euro zone declined for the first time ever in September, sparking fears that weak lending could hind a recovery within the economy. The euro zone, which comprises 16 countries, is still officially in recession and the fall in lending comes at a [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) has today elected to keep interest rates for the euro zone on hold at the record low of 1%, as widely expected. The move comes as policymakers are uncertain about recovery within the region after official figures earlier this week revealed that the economy contracted by 0.2% in the April [...]
Eurostat today announced that consumer prices fell in the euro zone in September by a faster rate than they had in the previous month. Furthermore, prices fell further than had been expected by economists after Eurostat said the inflation rate fell to -0.3% in the 12 months to September, from -0.2% in the year to [...]
Eurostat has revealed that the CPI in the euro zone declined in August by an annual rate of 0.2% and followed the record 0.7% fall in July. Analysts were encouraged by the slower rate of decline in consumer prices and Nick Kounis of Fortis commented: “We think that the negative impact of energy prices is [...]
For the third consecutive month, the European Central Bank (ECB) has elected to keep interest rates unchanged at 1%. The last time the ECB cut rates was in May and prior to that, rates were cut seven times since October 2008 when rates stood at 4.25%. In a further attempt to boost the struggling economy, [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) has today elected to keep interest rates at 1% as widely expected. In an effort to boost the struggling economy, the ECB has cut rates seven times since October when rates stood at 4.25%. Elsewhere in Europe, Sweden lowered interest rates to 0.25% – the lowest level since records began [...]
Figures from the Eurostat agency have revealed that the unemployment rate in the 16-nations that share the European single currency rose from 9.3% in April to 9.5% in May – the highest rate since 1999. Economists had forecast a rise to 9.4%. According to Eurostat, 15 million people were out of work in May, up [...]
European Central Bank’s (ECB) president, Jean-Claude Trichet, is urging major economies not to implement any more stimulus packages by declaring that existing packages are “sufficient”. Stimulus packages have been implemented in many of the major economies throughout the world and are aimed at boosting economies. Mr Trichet said that the stimulus packages already in place [...]
In a move which was widely expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) elected to keep interest rates for the euro zone on hold today at 1%. The move came shortly after the Bank of England opted to keep interest rates unchanged at 0.5%. Returning to the euro zone, the ECB’s president, Jean-Claude Trichet, said that [...]
The European Union statistics office has today revealed that euro zone unemployment has hit a 10-year high as the 16-member nation grapples with recession. The latest figures take the unemployment rate to 9.2% in April, up from 8.9% in March. Almost 400,000 more people lost their jobs, taking the number of people out of work [...]
Industrial production in France and Italy have experienced sharp falls in March. National statistics office INSEE said output in France fell 1.4% in March compared with the previous month, nearly treble the 0.5% which had been expected by economists. In the meantime, Italian national statistics agency ISTAT said monthly production in the country fell for [...]
As widely expected, the European Central Bank (ECB) has today opted to cut rates by 0.25% to 1% for the euro zone. The new rate is a record low and is the seventh cut in as many months. Rates have been reduced since October 2008 when they stood at 4.25%. The news follows that from [...]
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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