The UK economy could recover more quickly than expected according to economic forecasting group the Ernst & Young Item Club. The Item Club expects the UK to return to growth in the second half of this year, marking an end to the double-dip recession. However this depends on a solution being found to the debt [...]
British workers will start to benefit from lower inflation and taxes this year, ending the year £482 better off than they were in 2011, according to a new report. The Ernst & Young ITEM Club suggests that inflation could fall to two per cent by the end of the year, as long as oil prices [...]
The rate of Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation fell to 4.2 per cent in December, from 4.8 per cent in November, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This is the third consecutive month that inflation has fallen and December’s figures represents the biggest monthly fall since April 2009. Inflation [...]
Leading think tank, the Ernst & Young Item Club, has warned that growth within the UK economy is “grinding to a halt” because of the euro zone debt crisis. The Item Club also warned that the quantitative easing (QE) measures, announced recently by the Bank of England, are unlikely to boost the recovery. Its comments [...]
Respected think tank, Ernst & Young ITEM Club, has lowered its growth forecast for the UK economy after warning that the UK is at a “critical juncture”. The ITEM Club now believes the UK economy will expand by 1.4% this year, down from an earlier estimate of 1.8%. Furthermore, it is predicting growth of 2.2% [...]
Respected think tank, Ernst & Young ITEM Club, has today said UK retailers are in for a tough time as household incomes become even further squeezed amid rising inflation and soaring energy bills. The think tank is forecasting consumer spending to rise by just 2% a year in the next decade as family finances are [...]
Influential think tank, the Ernst & Young Item Club, is urging the Bank of England not to be pressurised into lifting UK interest rates as it could threaten the economic recovery. Interest rates have been at the historic low of 0.5% since March 2009 – when the economy was in the midst of recession. Despite [...]
Respected economic forecaster, the Ernst & Young Item Club, has today warned of a gloomy outlook for consumers but a double-dip recession is unlikely. The think tank said economic growth will be hampered due to massive spending cuts – introduced by the Government to tackle the budget deficit. The Ernst & Young Item Club is [...]
The Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has today elected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5% for the 18th consecutive month, as widely expected. Furthermore, the Bank opted not to inject any more funds into the economy via its quantitative easing (QE) scheme – introduced [...]
Mortgage borrowers will be pleased to hear that interest rates could be “pinned to the floor” until 2014. The prediction comes in the latest report by respected economic forecaster, Ernst & Young Item Club, which at the same time acknowledges that high energy prices and the VAT rise due in January will keep inflation above [...]
Respected economic forecaster, the Ernst & Young ITEM Club, is predicting that interest rates will stay at the historic low of 0.5% until 2014. “A base rate of 0.5% will begin to look like the new normal,” Professor Peter Spencer from the ITEM Club said. Interest rates have stood at the record low since March [...]
Respected economic forecaster, Ernst & Young ITEM Club, sees the prospects for the UK’s economic recovery remaining poor this year, with output growth likely to be about 1%. In its latest “Outlook for Business” report, the firm’s analysts describe world output and trade as “recovering rapidly” and maintain their view that exports and other sources [...]
Business group, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said the UK economy is in for a “sluggish” recovery this year, predicting growth of just 1% in 2010 and 2.5% in 2011. The forecasts are slightly below the Government’s target of 1.25% this year and 3.5% for 2011. Richard Lambert, director general of the CBI, comments: [...]
The latest quarterly report from the Ernst & Young Item Club is forecasting “a decade of pain” for the UK economy, with growth only expected to be 1% this year. The UK economy, which has now contracted for six consecutive quarters, has been lagging behind other economies and is now the last major economy that [...]
The Ernst & Young Item Club, a respected group of economists, believes that the UK economy will struggle to achieve 1% growth next year and it is still too early to declare a recovery. The influential think tank is forecasting some growth in the latter half of 2009 but Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will struggle [...]
The UK’s housing market rally is being called into question again, this time by Ernst & Young Item Club. The economic forecasting group warns that price rises seen in recent months are a false dawn and that the average value of a home will not revisit to its 2007 peak for at least another five [...]
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) is joining many other leading think tanks by forecasting a slow recovery in the UK. The research body is expecting total UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to fall 4.3% this year before experiencing modest growth of 1% next year and 1.8% the year after. The forecasts [...]
The director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, David Frost, has warned that small and medium size businesses (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable to the swine flu. Mr Frost told Sky News: “After a dramatic decline in the economy there is a touch more confidence coming back. But if swine flu does really take off [...]
The Ernst & Young Item Club, the influential think-tank, said the UK economy is heading for a ‘fragile recovery’ and is predicting that the economy will contract by 4.5% this year – the biggest fall in any year since 1945. The prediction is far more pessimistic than the one from the Government who is forecasting [...]
The CBI said today that the worst of the recession is over since it took a deeper grasp than expected in the first quarter of 2009. However, the expectation is that the economy will slow more gently in the second part of the year. The group was keen to stress that despite the worst being [...]
Gender directive could slash men’s annuity payouts
The EU Gender Directive, which came into force today, could see men losing up to £10,000 from their annuity payouts, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Under the new rules insurers are no longer allowed to take gender into account when setting annuity rates and premiums on insurance products. Men previously enjoyed higher annuity rates than [...]
Home rental costs down in November
The cost of renting a house in England and Wales fell by 0.4 per cent in November, its first dip since March, according to a survey by LSL Property Services. Average rent was £741m during the month, returning to the level seen in September. However, it was 3.4 per higher than in November last year. [...]
Lloyds TSB halts sale of packaged accounts in branches
Lloyds TSB will stop selling packaged account in its branches from 1 January 2013, until its sales procedures are brought into line with those operated by sister bank The Halifax. Lloyds TSB is one of the main providers of packaged accounts in Britain, with around one in three of its customers choosing to pay fees [...]
Housing market recovery to continue next year
Recent improvements in the housing market should continue into next year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) Gross lending is estimated to have increased to £12.9 billion in November, helped by the Funding for Lending scheme which provides banks and building societies with lower-cost funding, which they are then supposed to pass on [...]
Newcastle Building Society exits interest-only mortgages
Newcastle Building Society has stopped offering interest-only mortgages to new borrowers, following the lead of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Nationwide, Co-operative bank and Coventry Building Society. The decision will not affect existing Newcastle customers and applications for interest-only mortgages received before 14 December will still be processed. Prior to the credit crunch, interest-only mortgages [...]
Less than half of Brits considered creditworthy
Fifty-seven per cent of UK adults are at risk of having an application for credit turned down by a mainstream lender according to a new report. The ‘Mind the Credit Gap‘ report commissioned by aqua credit cards suggests that even people with a good credit rating and earning more than £50,000 could have a credit [...]
Monthly incomes £22 lower in 2012
The average monthly income of UK households fell by £22 in real terms compared with last year, according to a survey carried out for the Bank of England (BoE) by NMG Consulting. People on lower incomes have seen their income eroded more than higher earners and households still have high levels of debt the BoE [...]
Savers dig deep to fund Christmas
New research from the Halifax suggests that savers are funding their Christmas spending with money set aside for other purposes. Thirty-seven per cent of 2,138 savers surveyed by the bank at the end of November had withdrawn savings in the last three months. The average amount withdrawn was £1,186, more than double the average savings [...]
Financial data at risk from unsafe passwords
According to a survey by the Payments Council the problem of having to remember a different password for several accounts means that many internet users are compromising the security of their financial data. Internet users have 22 password-protected accounts on average and many use the same log-in details for more than one account, even though [...]
Wonga launches Paylater loans on retailer website
Payday loan company Wonga has launched a new Paylater service on furniture firm Cotswold Company’s website. The service, which allows customers to “buy now, pay later” will be introduced on other retailers’ sites in the near future. Although the Paylater branding is similar to Wonga’s, the Wonga name only appears in the small print. A [...]
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