France’s Economy Minister Christine Lagarde has said the economy will expand 2.25% in 2012, revised down from a previous estimate of 2.5%. The revision was based on the fact that global demand for French goods is likely to weaken. In an interview with Les Echos reported, the minister said: “Our forecast for two percent growth [...]
The Zew economic sentiment index has revealed German analyst and investor confidence fell more than forecast in April – the second consecutive monthly drop. The index, which measures expectations of economic activity over the next six months, plunged to 7.6 from 14.1 points in March. Analysts had expected the index to hover around the 10 [...]
It looks as if Germany will continue to drive the recovery in the euro zone after forecasts said the economy will expand by 2.8% this year. In a closely monitored twice-yearly report, the country’s leading economic institutes upwardly revised an earlier forecast of 2% growth. The report said: “In the spring of 2011, the world [...]
Statistics office Destatis has today revealed German exports unexpectedly fell 1% in January on the month after a 0.5% rise in December. However, on an annual basis, exports were up 24.2%. Germany is the world’s second largest exporter after China and export demand helped to bring Germany out of recession in the second quarter of [...]
Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, has today revealed German retail sales grew for a second consecutive month in January. According to Destatis, retail sales rose 2.6% in January on an annual basis – boosted by falling unemployment. Earlier this week, the Federal Labour Office said there was a further fall in the number of people out [...]
Germany, which is Europe’s largest economy, saw a further fall in the number of people out of work in February to 3.07 million – the lowest since September 1992. The Federal Labour Office said unemployment dropped by 52,000 in February, taking the unemployment rate to 7.3%, from January‘s 7.4%. The country’s job market has performed [...]
Germany has today posted economic growth of 0.4% for the fourth quarter – its seventh consecutive quarter of expansion, the Federal Statistical Office confirmed today. The data confirms an initial estimate published last week. Germany is driving the recovery in the euro zone and export demand helped to bring the economy out of recession in [...]
The Munich-based Ifo think tank has announced confidence among German firms rose in February to another record high. The closely-watched Business Climate Index climbed to 111.2 in February, up from 110.3 in January – the ninth consecutive monthly increase and the highest reading for the former West Germany since 1969. The results confounded analysts expectations [...]
Europe’s largest economy, Germany, looks set to be continuing its strong recovery after Federal Statistical Office, Destatis, reported the economy grew by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. For the 2010 year, the economy expanded by 3.6%, said Destatis. However, both figures were slightly below forecasts with economists expecting quarterly growth of 0.5% and annual growth [...]
Statistics office Destatis has revealed German exports rose 0.5% in December on a monthly basis – albeit half the 1% rise expected by analysts. However, for the 2010 year, exports were up 18.5% to €951.9 billion. The figures sent the euro slightly higher to $1.3651 from $1.3627 late Tuesday. Germany is the world’s second largest [...]
The Economy Ministry has reported German industrial orders fell by 3.4% in December on a monthly basis – due to a severe drop in demand for capital goods from non-euro zone countries. The fall partially wiped out November’s rise of 5.2%. However, economists had predicted a sharp fall and Europe’s largest economy continues to lead [...]
The European Union’s statistics agency has today announced the unemployment rate in the 17-member euro zone remained stuck at 10% in December. According to Eurostat, 15.7 million people were unemployed in the euro zone during the month. Unemployment remains high in Spain – at above the 20% mark – but continues to fall in Germany, [...]
Germany, which is Europe’s biggest economy, saw a fall in the number of people out of work in January to 3.135 million. The Federal Labour Office said unemployment fell to an 18-year low in January taking the unemployment rate to 7.4% from 7.5% in December. Germany’s job market has performed much better than in many [...]
A survey has revealed Europe’s powerhouse, Germany, continue to leads the recovery after the economy’s services sector rose to a 55-month high. Early findings from the business survey, Markit’s Flash Purchasing Managers’ Index for the 17-member nation rose to 55.2 in January from 54.2 in December, beating forecasts of a 54.3 reading. The index remains [...]
The Munich-based Ifo think tank today announced confidence among German firms rose in January to another record high. The closely-watched Business Climate Index rose to 110.3 in January, up from 109.8 in December – the eight consecutive monthly increase. It also represented the second straight record high since the country’s reunification in 1990 and slightly [...]
Europe’s powerhouse, Germany, is expected to see growth of 2.3% for 2011, as domestic demand is expected to strengthen. Europe’s largest economy will grow much faster in 2011, the Government said today, with the latest forecast much higher than the 1.8% estimated in October. Economy minister Rainer Bruederle said the economy had “achieved the comeback [...]
A meeting of euro zone finance ministers will take place today to discuss enlarging the effective capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). The move comes after speculation mounts that weaker euro zone nations will need to tap the facility for emergency funds. Portugal and Spain are both under scrutiny and face pressure to [...]
Germany, which is Europe’s largest economy, posted growth of 3.6% in 2010 – the strongest pace since German reunification in 1990, the Federal Statistical Office said today. Export demand helped to bring Germany out of recession in the second quarter of 2009 – much sooner than many of its counterparts throughout the world. “We grew [...]
The labour ministry today announced unemployment fell in Spain in December. Spain, which has the highest unemployment rate in the EU, has been hit by a severe slump within its key construction industry, which has led to a significant amount of job losses. Growth in the economy, which is Europe’s fifth-biggest, declined for seven consecutive [...]
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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