Germany has announced this weekend that it plans to bring its deficit down to meet EU rules. Chancellor Angela Merkel is heading up a two-day cabinet meeting to devise a savings plan for the country’s budget, which is expected to see tough measures including road tolls, tax hikes and cuts to welfare. The country’s public [...]
Spain’s Government has passed the €15 billion (£13 billion) austerity plan, which has been implemented to deal with the country’s deficit, which is currently 11% of GDP. Spain aims to reduce the deficit to 6% by 2011, which involves a 5% cut for civil servants. Deputy Prime Minister, Maria Teresa Fernandez De la Vega, acknowledged [...]
The new coalition Government is to introduce measures that will see an end to “unfair” bank charges, as well as excessive interest rates on credit cards. The measures, part of new policies that are being introduced by the Con-Lib Government, comes after a legal battle between the banks and the Office of Fair Trading, which [...]
Strikes were launched across Greece again today as workers protest against new austerity measures, which include deeper cuts in pensions and public servants’ pay, as well as a fresh hike in consumer taxes. The new austerity measures are being submitted in a draft bill to the Greek Parliament today, and will be voted on by [...]
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 [...]
The Greek Government has today unveiled a new series of measures aimed at tackling the country’s debt problems, which has resulted in the euro recovering 0.3% to $1.3637. Growing fears over the debt crisis in Greece have weakened the value of the euro in recent weeks as Greece takes action to reduce its public deficit [...]
Austerity measures to rescue Greece’s debt-stricken economy has resulted in two million workers to stage a nationwide strike today which will see air, rail and maritime transport come to a standstill. It is the second general strike in a fortnight after the tough measures angered Greek trade unions. Greece is currently taking action to reduce [...]
Fears of travel chaos could emerge later as the results of a ballot is set to be announced. A second strike ballot for British Airways (BA) 12,000 cabin crew members is to close today after they vowed to take industrial action over cost-cutting measures, which include a pay freeze and a switch to part-time working [...]
After the summit meeting in Brussels today, EU leaders have agreed to work with Greece to tackle its spiralling debts. Last week, the Greek Government announced tough austerity measures to tackle the country’s spiralling debt. The country’s runaway budget deficit is currently more than four times the EU limit of 3%. It currently has the [...]
The European Commission has met today to discuss Greece’s tough austerity measures which will see the weakest economy of the euro zone tackle its spiralling debt. The Commission confirmed it will support the country’s plans which include a public sector pay freeze and a hike in fuel taxes. However, the European Commission will closely monitor [...]
In an attempt to reduce its high levels of debt, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, has unveiled tough measures which include a public sector pay freeze and a hike in fuel taxes. Further measures to reduce debt levels include a 10% cut in social security spending, as well as a massive 90% tax on the [...]
In an attempt to reduce its high levels of debt, the Greek parliament is to embark on major budget cuts. Greece, which is the euro zone’s weakest economy, has the highest debt of the 16-member bloc. Currently, its public debt stands at €300 billion (£268 billion). Concerns of the sheer size of Greece’s debt led [...]
At today’s Pre-Budget Report, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling unveiled measures to claw back money in order to pay off the UK’s spiralling debt. Mr Darling confirmed there would be a one-off 50% tax on bankers’ bonuses paid above £25,000. The Chancellor said the banks, rather than the bankers, will pay the tax and [...]
In the Pre-Budget Report this week, Chancellor Alistair Darling is expected to announce a windfall tax on British banks. The measure is one of many being planned by Mr Darling to target high earners. Other measures include increasing the number of people liable to pay inheritance tax, as well as an increase in capital gains [...]
Shares in Dubai continued their decline today following the country’s debt crisis after the stock market closed 5.61% down. Abu Dhabi lost 3.57%, while Qatar’s main index closed down 8.27%. However, in a bid to calm investors fears, the president of the United Arab Emirates has attempted to reassure them by issuing a statement saying [...]
A report by the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) has found that just 23% of final salary pension schemes in the private sector are open to new members, compared with 28% a year earlier. As a result of the findings, the NAPF has issued a warning to the Government to introduce measures to help [...]
Official figures show that the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits last week fell for the second consecutive week to the lowest level since January. The figures show that claims for state unemployment insurance fell to 502,000 in the week ended November 7, down from the revised 514,000 the previous week. [...]
An investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) found that consumers struggle to understand current account charges, as well as interest rates and overdraft fees. As a result, new measures from 2011 will see banks make it easier for consumers to understand their costs and charges, as well as making the switching process easier. [...]
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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Japanese yen falls after Minister’s comments
Last week, the US dollar continued its fall against the Japanese yen, sliding to a 14-year low. The falls led to Japan’s finance minister, Hirohisa Fujii, to say that the Government is monitoring the yen but did not suggest immediate intervention. While a strong yen is good news for the economy, it makes Japanese exports [...]