South Korea, which is Asia’s fourth largest economy, has experienced growth of 4.2% in the first quarter on an annual basis, according to official data today. The economy grew by 1.4% in the January to March quarter from the previous three months – the fastest rate in nine months. The better than expected growth was [...]
Scotland’s economy shrank less than thought in the October to December period, official figures revealed today. GDP was revised upwards to a contraction of 0.4% rather than an earlier estimate of 0.5%. The contraction was attributed to the bad weather during the quarter which impacted on many businesses. On an annual basis, meanwhile, the economy [...]
Home Retail Group, owner of Argos and Homebase, has today reported a 9.5% fall in pre-tax profits as conditions on the High Street remain challenging. Profits fell to £265.2 million in the 12 months to 26 February compared with £293 million in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, revenue was almost 3% lower on [...]
Officials from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are to meet in Lisbon today to discuss the terms of Portugal’s bailout. The bailout represents the third in the euro zone after Greece and Ireland, and will be finalised by mid-May. The €80 billion (£70 billion) rescue package comes [...]
Germany’s Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle has today said the economy will perform better than expected in 2011. According to the minister, the economy is predicted to grow by 2.6% this year – better than a previous estimate of 2.3% in January. However, growth will ease slightly in 2012, slowing to 1.8%, said Mr Bruederle. The [...]
The Treasury department has estimated that the disasters that hit Australia earlier this year will cost the economy AUS$9 billion (£5.8 billion). The figure is considerably higher than a previous estimate of AUS$5.6 billion. Australia, which is one of the few developed economies not to have fallen into recession like its counterparts throughout the world, [...]
According to Justin Lin, the World Bank’s chief economist, China has the potential to overtake the US and become the world’s largest economy. Mr Lin’s comments come shortly after official data last month revealed China had become the world’s second largest economy – taking over from Japan, which slipped into the third place. At the [...]
The Japanese Government has spoken of the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and the 13-foot tsunami which hit the northeast coast of Japan last week. Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, described it as the worst crisis since the Second World War. The disasters are set to cause “considerable” economic impact as the country faces a massive clean-up operation, [...]
Asian shares and the yen have dropped after a 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit Japan. The earthquake hit the northeast coast of Japan, followed by a 13-foot tsunami wave sending shares tumbling. Shares had already lost ground following weak economic data and the Middle East turmoil. Japan’s Nikkei index was 1.7% lower, but Nikkei futures lost [...]
Spain has been dealt a further blow today after Moody’s ratings agency cut the country’s debt by one notch to Aa2 from Aa1. In a statement, the agency said: “(Moody’s) believes there is a meaningful risk that the eventual cost of the recapitalisation effort could considerably exceed the government’s current projections.” The downgrade comes just [...]
The Labor Department has today revealed the unemployment rate in the US has fallen again from 9% in January to 8.9% in February. It represents the third consecutive month that the rate has fallen with the economy creating 192,000 jobs in the month – far better than expectations. However, the total number of unemployed people [...]
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has today elected to keep interest rates on hold at 4.75% – for the fourth consecutive month. The move, which was widely expected, comes as inflationary pressures subside and the rate is expected to remain within its target this year. Australia was the first economy to raise rates from [...]
The Commerce Department has today revealed the US economy grew by an annualised 2.8% in the October to December period – lower than the first estimate of 3.2%. The growth rate was also lower than the 3.3% expected by most analysts. Today’s estimate is the second reading, a third and final estimate will be available [...]
Equities markets in Europe opened the week with mixed results on Monday. The FTSE 100 was down 0.05 percent to 6,060.09 in London, while the FTSE 250 added 0.31 percent to 11,833.9, based at least partly on large gains in the energy sector. John Wood Group (LSE: WG), which supplies engineering services to the energy [...]
Official figures have today revealed Chinese imports soared by 51% in January compared with a year ago – far exceeding forecasts of a 28% increase. Meanwhile, exports grew 38% in January on an annual basis, according to the customs authorities. Again, this easily beat expectations of a 22.4% rise. The strong rise in imports led [...]
Global stock markets were lower today as investors awaited US fourth quarter economic growth figures. Analysts expect the economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.5% in the final three months of 2010, after growth of 2.6% in the third quarter. The US economic recovery appears to be gathering momentum after positive figures for the [...]
South Korea‘s economy, which is Asia’s fourth-largest, saw growth slow to 0.5% in the October to December period. Last year, the economy expanded strongly – boosted by exports and increasing consumption and facilities investment. However, retail spending and manufacturing and construction slowed, which was attributed to the slowdown. The Bank of Korea were optimistic about [...]
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 [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
Fed Chairman comments on unemployment and deficit
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke has warned that stubbornly high unemployment will remain. Mr Bernanke said the weak labour market means a recovery is not yet “truly established.” His comments come despite the drop in the US unemployment rate last month. Last week, the Labor Department reported the unemployment rate in the US fell from [...]