The European Central Bank (ECB) today elected to keep interest rates on hold at the historic low of 1% – where they have been since May 2009. 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 [...]
It appears the European Commission is optimistic about the euro zone’s growth prospects after lifting GDP forecasts. According to the Commission, growth of 1.8% in the EU for 2010 is expected – slightly higher than its previous estimate of 1%. Meanwhile, for the 16-member euro zone, it is forecasting growth of 1.7% – up from [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) is feeling more optimistic about growth in the eurozone, having raised its forecast for GDP growth to between 1.4% and 1.8% for 2010, and between 0.5% and 2.3% in 2011. Explaining the revision, ECB president, Jean-Claude Trichet, said: “Euro area real GDP grew strongly on a quarterly basis, increasing by [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) today elected to keep interest rates on hold at the historic low of 1% for the 15th 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 Union’s statistics agency has today announced unemployment in the 16-member euro zone remained flat at 10% in June. According to Eurostat, 15.77 million people were unemployed in the euro zone during June. Spain has the highest unemployment within the 16-bloc nation at 20%, while Austria has the lowest, at 3.9%. Meanwhile, in the [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
There are fresh concerns over the European banking sector after banks are scheduled to repay €442 billion (£362 billion) worth of loans to the European Central Bank (ECB) later this week. Shares in Europe hit a three-week closing low today as a result. Furthermore, shares were hit by a sharp fall in US consumer confidence [...]
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 Union’s statistics agency has today announced unemployment in the 16-member euro zone remained at 9.9% in January. Unemployment rose by 38,000 during the month, leaving the unemployment rate flat at December’s (downwardly-revised) 6-year high of 9.9%. However, the amount of unemployment in the euro zone is at its highest since the single currency [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has today pledged its support for Greece after yesterday’s declaration from the European Union, which will see the debt-stricken economy tackle its spiralling debts. “We stand willing and able to support Greece in ways that the Greek authorities think is appropriate,” IMF First Deputy Managing Director John Lipsky told reporters [...]
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 [...]
Figures from Eurostat have today revealed that the number of people unemployed across the euro zone grew to 15.8 million in December. The latest figures mean that the unemployment rate across the 16 countries that use the euro is 10% – the highest rate since 1999. Analysts believe that the unemployment rate will continue to [...]
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 [...]
Consumer prices in the euro zone rose for the first time in seven months in November, according to figures released today by Eurostat. Prices rose by 0.6% in the 12 months to November after a 0.1% decline in October. It is welcome news for the economy after analysts feared that the 16-nation euro zone was [...]
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 [...]
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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