News Tag: Government
March 18, 2010
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed the UK Government borrowed a further £12.4 billion in February.
However, while the figure represented the highest amount for February on record, it was less than economists had forecast.
Overall, debt stands at £857.75 billion - the equivalent to 60.3% of GDP, up from 50.5% a year ago.
For ...
UK public sector net borrowing less than expected in Feb
by Kay Murchie
March 17, 2010
New government legislation on credit card debt does not go nearly far enough, the director of a financial management charity has claimed.
Chris Tapp, director of Credit Action, said new laws that stop credit card providers increasing interest rates and limits on credit cards are merely "a baby step in the right direction".
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the new laws will ...
Government should act tough on credit cards
by David Masters
March 16, 2010
A report due to be released later this week by the European Commission is expected reveal the Government’s plans for reducing the budget deficit are not ambitious enough.
A draft document, which has been seen by the Reuters news agency, warns Britain is not on target to trim its deficit in accordance with EU rules of below ...
EU report calls for more action in reducing UK budget deficit
by Kay Murchie
March 15, 2010
The Government-led crackdown on credit card companies is expected to save consumers around £300 million a year.
The crackdown comes after the Government warned credit and store card firms to “clean up their act” after it launched a review of the industry in a consumer White Paper in July 2009.
According to Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, the cost of borrowing ...
Consumers to save millions under new credit card protection
by Kay Murchie
March 8, 2010
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 departments, in a bid to provide ...
CBI calls for ‘credible’ economic plan
by Kay Murchie
February 25, 2010
Up to 270,000 civil servants are to stage a 48-hour national strike next month in a dispute over redundancy pay.
The walkout, which will take place on 8 and 9 March, will involve job centre staff, tax workers, coastguards, border agency officials, courts staff and driving test examiners.
If a satisfactory outcome is not reached then further strike action could take ...
270,000 civil servants to stage 48-hour strike
by Kay Murchie
February 24, 2010
The Treasury has today announced savers with Northern Rock will lose the Government’s 100% guarantee on 24 May.
The move means the crisis-torn bank is back in line with its rivals but savers will still benefit from the £50,000 guarantee to all savers under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
The 100% guarantee was put in place after Northern Rock collapsed ...
Northern Rock savers to lose 100% guarantee
by Kay Murchie
Greece comes to a standstill as workers stage nationwide strike
by Kay Murchie
February 18, 2010
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed that the UK’s public finances deteriorated last month with net borrowing at £4.3 billion.
January is traditionally a strong month for tax receipts - due to income and corporation tax, according to the ONS.
However, tax income was lower than expected and it is the first borrowing figure for the month of January since ...
UK finances deteriorate further in January
by Kay Murchie
Manifesto aims to make social enterprise vital to British economy
by David Masters
February 8, 2010
The Indian Government has today announced that the economy is expected to expand 7.2% in the year to the end of March.
The economy is making a strong recovery and expanded at an annual pace of 7.9% in the three months to the end of September, after growing 6.7% in the year to the end of March 2009.
Meanwhile, today’s announcement has raised ...
Indian economy to grow 7.2%
by Kay Murchie
February 3, 2010
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 ...
IFS issues caution to Government in its quest to repair public finances
by Kay Murchie
Think tank warns Government to control spending
by Kay Murchie
January 27, 2010
Workers at British confectioner Cadbury are to stage a protest today in Bournville, Birmingham in a bid to urge shareholders to reject the takeover offer from US food giant, Kraft.
Kraft, which is renowned for brands such as Kenco coffee and Oreo biscuits, made an offer of £11.7 billion last week which 186-year-old Cadbury agreed to.
Following the announcement, Roger Carr, ...
Cadbury workers stage protest over jobs threat
by Kay Murchie
January 19, 2010
The UK credit card industry has agreed to Government proposals to help credit card holders manage their debt.
As part of a crackdown on credit card companies, the Government recently warned credit and store card firms to “clean up their act.”
One of the main issues was for credit card companies to stop increasing interest rates when a customer fell behind ...
Credit card industry responds to Government proposals
by Kay Murchie
Citigroup reports Q4 loss of $7.6bn
by Kay Murchie
January 11, 2010
Minister for Women and Equality, Harriet Harman, is calling for a major shake-up in the retirement law which will see workers no longer forced to retire at 65.
Miss Harman believes a radical change in the law is needed in order to smash the notion that people are 'past it' once they hit 65.
The proposals will mean ...
New Government proposals to see flexible hours for over 65s
by Kay Murchie
January 5, 2010
Icelandic President, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, has vetoed the repayment of a £2.3 billion loan to the UK Government.
The debt relates to the collapse of Landsbanki which collapsed at the height of the banking crisis in autumn 2008 and 300,000 British savers saw their accounts frozen with the bank’s online Icesave brand.
The Treasury stepped in with a 100% guarantee for individual savers ...
Iceland president vetoes repayment to UK
by Kay Murchie
January 4, 2010
Shares in troubled Japan Airlines (JAL) soared 31% today after it was revealed that the Japanese Government had asked the state-owned Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) to double JAL’s credit line to JAL to 200 billion yen (£1.4 billion).
The airline has already used 55 billion yen of the 100 billion yen credit line set up by the DBJ.
The extra funding ...
JAL shares recover after Government loans deal
by Kay Murchie
January 3, 2010
Struggling Japan Airlines (JAL) has had its credit line doubled to 200 billion yen (£1.3 billion) after an agreement by the Japanese Government today, according to Kyodo news agency.
The extra funding was agreed by Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Transport Minister Seiji Maehara and other ministers at a meeting this weekend.
A statement said: "The government has decided ...
Japanese Government to double credit line for JAL
by Kay Murchie
