The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has today elected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5% for the 14th consecutive month, amid the ongoing election turmoil. The rate-setting meeting was due to be held on 5 and 6 May but was held last Friday and concluded [...]
Kate Sharp, chief executive of the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA) believes last week’s hung parliament result could seriously hurt the UK’s economic recovery. According to many experts, the hung parliament result means that it will be harder to pass legislation and undermine a fragile UK recovery. Ms Sharp of ABFA comments: “The ABFA supports [...]
Official figures today revealed Japanese core consumer prices fell 1.2% in February from a year earlier – representing the 12th consecutive monthly decline that the world’s no.2 economy has been in deflation. The latest figures suggest that ongoing deflationary pressure could ultimately threaten Japan’s fragile economic recovery. The economy was one of the first to [...]
There were further fears for debt-stricken Greece today after the country’s central bank, the Bank of Greece (BoG), said economic growth will fall this year by 2%, worse than the Government’s forecast of between 1.2% and 1.7%. According to the BoG: “The Greek economy has fallen into a vicious circle with only one way out: [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee member, Andrew Sentance, has acknowledged that there is some risk of a double dip recession. Mr Sentance said: “You have to recognise there is some risk of a double dip, but that’s not the central forecast.” His comments come just a week after fellow policymaker, Kate Barker, said [...]
In order to tackle the UK’s deficit, tax hikes could well be on the agenda, according to reports today. Last week, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne suggested that no new tax rises will be required in order to cut the UK’s ballooning deficit. However, in a dramatic u-turn, asked by the BBC yesterday [...]
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is calling on the Government to provide a ‘credible’ economic plan for balancing public finances by 2016 – two years earlier than planned. The business group believes that Chancellor, Alistair Darling, should use his last Budget before the general election to give more details of spending plans for Whitehall [...]
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has today announced UK car sales were up by 26.4% in February compared with the same month in 2009, boosted by the Government’s scrappage scheme. The £400 million initiative, which was launched last May to boost the ailing car industry, pays drivers of cars at least 10 [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has today elected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5% for the 12th consecutive month. In addition, it has opted not to inject any more funds into the economy via its quantitative easing (QE) scheme – introduced to stimulate growth [...]
As expected, the snowy and icy conditions experienced in the UK in January has resulted in a fall in retail sales. The severe wintry weather drove shoppers away from the High Street and resulted in a 1.8% fall in retail sales – the sharpest drop in 18 months. The official figures, from the Office for [...]
Despite calls from leading business groups to take urgent action with regard to spending cuts, Chancellor Alistair Darling, has received support to delay cuts until 2011. According to David Kern at the British Chambers of Commerce, the UK’s credit rating is being put at risk by the Government’s failure to act more quickly. However, over [...]
Eurostat has today revealed retail sales in the euro zone were unchanged in December from January. The figures disappointed analysts who had expected a 0.4% rise in which is traditionally the busiest month of the year for retailers. The latest figures highlight the fragile state of the economy and weak consumer demand. On an annual [...]
A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said the Government needs to be ambitious in tackling the public finances but warned that economic recovery should not be put at “undue risk”. The Institute believes an extra £13 billion in tax hikes or spending cuts is required by 2015-16 in order to repair [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has today warned that the global recovery “remains very fragile“. Dominique Strauss-Kahn of the IMF said the global economy has been stronger than expected and China and developing Asian economies are leading the way in the global economic recovery but warned all major economies of an early withdrawal from stimulus [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed that the UK economy contracted by 0.2% in the July to September period – rather than the 0.3% previously reported and the 0.4% estimated in October. Analysts had forecast a contraction of 0.1%. On an annual basis, the UK economy has shrunk by 5.1% over the [...]
Business group, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), has warned of a “fragile” recovery next year. However, the group is predicting that the economy will emerge from recession in the fourth quarter. According to John Cridland, CBI deputy director general, growth will gradually pick up but the first few months of 2010 will be difficult. [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed that UK industrial output showed no change in October from September – suggesting the economy made a poor start to the final quarter of the year. The data has disappointed analysts who had predicted an increase. According to Ross Walker from RBS, the recovery was “lagging” [...]
Figures published by the Commerce Department today have revealed a better-than-expected 1.4% rise in US retail sales for the month of October. Analysts had expected a rise of 0.9%. The rise follows a revised 1.5% decline in September, and October’s rise was attributed to an increased demand for cars, despite the Government’s ’cash for clunkers’ [...]
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) today said that the UK economy probably exited recession during the July to September period but warned that growth next year will be ‘fragile‘. The business group is forecasting that GDP will expand by 0.3% in the third quarter, compared with the second quarter and will grow by 0.4% [...]
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 [...]
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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