The European Commission has predicted that the 16-member euro zone will see growth of 0.9% this year – slightly better than the 0.7% forecast earlier this year. However, Greece‘s economy, which has been in recession since the second quarter of 2009, is expected to contract by 3% this year, as the country in in the [...]
Strikes were launched across Greece again today as workers protest against new austerity measures, which include deeper cuts in pensions and public servants’ pay, as well as a fresh hike in consumer taxes. The new austerity measures are being submitted in a draft bill to the Greek Parliament today, and will be voted on by [...]
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) have today downgraded Spain’s credit rating by one notch to AA from AA+ and comes as the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned that the crisis in Greece could spread throughout Europe. Following the news, the euro fell against the dollar to $1.3129 – a level not seen since [...]
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 European Commission has warned that additional measures may need to be taken by Portugal in order to cut its budget deficit. Like Greece, Portugal’s public finances are in a dire state and last month, international credit rating agency, Fitch, cut the country’s credit rating to ‘AA-’ with a negative outlook. According to Fitch, Portugal’s [...]
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 European Union’s statistics office has today revealed the euro zone economy grew at a slower rate in the fourth quarter than previous estimates showed. According to official figures, the economy stagnated during the three month period with a rate of 0%, revised down from the previously estimated 0.1%. The latest figures are a further [...]
Investors continue to lose confidence in the euro after it fell further yesterday on fears over its rescue deal. The euro was down by more than a cent (1%) against the US dollar, at $1.3376, while it lost half a penny against the pound to 87.820p. The risk premium on Greek bonds also increased greatly. [...]
Last week, a deal was reached to help Greece manage its debt crisis, following the two-day EU summit, which was held in Brussels. The news meant the euro recovered from a 10-month low, which will see a rescue package total €22 billion (£20 billion) and will include help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). So [...]
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 [...]
The two-day EU summit, which commenced in Brussels today, saw a deal reached to help Greece through its debt crisis. According to Brussels, the package (which has yet to be approved by other euro zone nations) will total €23 billion (£21 billion) and will include help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The two-day summit [...]
The ongoing uncertainty in Greece has pushed the euro to a 10-month low against the dollar as European Union leaders prepare for a two-day summit in Brussels today. The currency fell to $1.333 – its lowest level since May last year, while it also lost 0.3% against the pound to 89.338 pence. As well as [...]
The euro continues to lose value as investors remain concerned about a solution for Greece’s fiscal problems. The currency fell to a record low of 1.4232 francs on trading platform EBS, while falling to an all-time low against the Australian dollar to $1.4654. Against the US dollar, it fell to $1.3459 – close to a [...]
The euro tumbled again today after Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, warned that Greece might have to seek help from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The currency fell to 1.3648 dollars, before recovering to 1.3692 dollars, however it was still down from 1.3735 dollars late in New York yesterday. Today, Mr Papandreou told the EU [...]
The Greek Government has today unveiled a new series of measures aimed at tackling the country’s debt problems, which has resulted in the euro recovering 0.3% to $1.3637. Growing fears over the debt crisis in Greece have weakened the value of the euro in recent weeks as Greece takes action to reduce its public deficit [...]
Growing fears over the debt crisis in Greece continue to weaken the value of the euro and it sank further today to 1.3436 dollars – a level not seen since May 2009. Greece is currently taking action to reduce its public deficit from 12% to 8% of GDP this year. The country currently has the [...]
The pound plummeted to a 10-month low today over fears of a possible hung parliament in the forthcoming election. Sterling lost 1.6% and dipped below $1.50 for the first time since May 2009 – it has already lost 7% against the dollar this year. The pound also lost ground against the euro and many other [...]
The price of US crude oil has moved back above the $80 a barrel mark, while London Brent climbed 58 cents to $78.64, extending last week’s gains. The rise, which is a six-week high, resulted in the FTSE 100 opening higher today and lifted the euro 0.2% after reports of a rescue for debt-stricken Greece. [...]
Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker has said the euro zone economy will grow by about 1% in 2010. The chief of the 16-member nation, who is also Luxembourg’s Prime Minister, said: “Growth is on the path of consolidation but growth in 2010 will be fragile, moderate.” The euro zone has hit the headlines over the last [...]
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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