European stock markets have lost ground today as the euro zone debt crisis continues and Italy becomes the latest nation to come under scrutiny. European stock markets were down earlier today with London’s FTSE, Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 all losing between 1.6% and 1.9%, following falls in Asia earlier. Meanwhile, the euro slipped [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has today warned that the euro zone debt crisis could still spread, despite bailouts for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. A report by the IMF said: “Contagion to the core euro area, and then onwards to emerging Europe, remains a tangible downside risk.” There are already further fears for Greece after [...]
According to statistics agency Eurostat, Greece’s public deficit reached 10.5% of GDP at the end of 2010 – higher than the 9.5% forecast. The Greek finance ministry has previously attributed the larger deficit to a deeper than expected recession, which cut into tax revenues and social security contributions. The figures suggest the country continues to [...]
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) today downgraded its rating on Greece’s long-term debt by two notches to BB- from BB+, taking the nation’s debt deeper into junk status. The downgrade comes shortly after Moody’s cut Greece’s rating to B1, one notch below S&P’s new rating. The downgrade is a further blow to the euro zone as [...]
Following the two-day meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels, it has emerged that Governments are in no hurry to increase the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) – otherwise known as the rescue fund. Greece and Ireland have received emergency bailouts from the fund and there has been speculation that weaker euro zone nations will [...]
The Greek parliament has today approved its 2011 austerity budget, which includes further spending cuts and tax hikes. The budget, which is part of the condition of its bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is an attempt to trim the country’s deficit to 7.4% of GDP next year, down from [...]
A meeting of euro zone finance ministers is taking place today to discuss boosting the EU rescue fund in light of the debt crisis that is currently eating its way into the nation. The recent Irish bailout has done little to allay fears and speculation has been mounting that other weaker euro zone economies may [...]
Spain’s finance minister has insisted that the country will not follow Greece and Ireland and seek a bailout. In a newspaper interview published today, Elena Salgado said: “Our fiscal adjustment is on track… we have done all the things that we had to do with our financial sector.” She added that Spain is “absolutely not” [...]
Portugal has, once again, denied that it does not require an EU bailout as speculation mounts that it will follow Greece and Ireland and request emergency funds. The euro has been falling over recent days over debt concerns in the euro zone. The single currency is falling as investors are nervous that the debt crisis [...]
Fears of contagion were raised again today after Spain’s borrowing costs surged to 5.330% from 5.148% – an eight-year high. Markets are nervous about the current euro zone situation and fears are growing that Spain and Portugal could be next in line for a bailout as yields on 10-year bonds rise to dangerous levels – [...]
A German newspaper has today reported that Portugal is under pressure to seek emergency aid from the EU rescue fund – something which the country strongly denies. Today, the Financial Times Deutschland reported that a number of euro zone nations and the European Central Bank were urging Portugal to follow Ireland and Greece and seek [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has today announced that Greece has met the conditions of its loan and will therefore receive the third instalment of its bailout loan. In May, the EU and the IMF agreed to loan €110 billion. The three-year rescue deal comprises €80 billion from the EU, with the rest coming from [...]
Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg Prime Minister and Eurogroup Chairman, has warned that Ireland’s debt crisis could spread to Portugal and Spain, despite assurances from both countries that Ireland’s emergency bailout will allay investors fears. Today, Portuguese Prime Minister, Jose Socrates, said it “has no need for any aid” and insisted that its difficulties are different to [...]
Ireland’s Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, announced last night that his Government has made a formal request for an emergency bailout. In the euro zone’s second emergency rescue this year, Ireland will receive between €80 and €90 billion but the country’s finance minister, Brian Lenihan, said a precise figure has not been determined. The loan will [...]
Yesterday’s meeting in Brussels of euro zone finance ministers concluded with failing to convince Ireland to ask for financial aid. The Irish Government continues to reject a bailout, insisting it is fully funded until at least the middle of next year. However, the country’s financial situation was described as “our most pressing challenge” by EU’s [...]
The European Union’s statistics office, Eurostat, has today said Greece’s budget deficit reached a revised 15.4% of annual economic output last year – higher than the 13.6% reported in April. The revised figure, which is almost two percentage points more than originally forecast, now makes it the largest deficit in the euro zone – even [...]
Greece has today forecast that its economy will contract by up to 3% in 2011 – worse than a previous estimate of 2.6%. Greece’s finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, said today: “Growth will contract by 4% this year, and next year by between 2.5% and 3%.” The country has been battling with its spiralling deficit and [...]
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has today said he does not expect the European rescue fund to be activated for Ireland. The rescue fund was established by European Governments and the IMF after the Greek debt crisis earlier this year. In a newspaper interview, Mr Strauss-Kahn said: “We are ready [...]
It has been announced that the tough austerity measures introduced by the coalition Government are set to lead to industrial action following a trade union gathering in Manchester today. At the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) meeting, union leaders urged delegates to “stand up and fight” against the massive spending cuts. The motion was supported [...]
Official figures have today revealed the Greek economy contracted more than originally anticipated in the April to June period. The economy, which is still in a deep recession, contracted by 1.8% in the second quarter – rather than the first estimate of 1.5%. The contraction was worse than expected and follows the 0.8% fall in [...]
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 [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
