The US House of Representatives has passed the bill to lift the borrowing limit to avoid defaulting on its debt and risk losing its prized triple-A credit rating. The bill was passed by 269 votes to 161 and is now expected to be approved by the Senate and signed into law by President Barack Obama [...]
US President Barack Obama has announced Republican and Democratic leaders have come to an agreement on raising the Government debt ceiling to avoid defaulting on its debt. “I want to announce that the leaders of both parties in both chambers have reached an agreement that will reduce the deficit and avoid default, a default that [...]
The Bank of Korea has lifted its inflation forecast for the 2011 year as food and oil prices rise. Inflationary pressures are rife in Asia and many central banks have opted to hike interest rates in an attempt to combat rising prices. The latest figures from Statistics Korea showed the consumer price index rose by [...]
The People’s Bank of China today lifted interest rates in a further attempt to fight stubborn inflation. The central bank increased the one-year yuan lending rate by 25 basis points to 6.31% and the one-year yuan deposit rate, also by 25 basis points, to 3.25%. The latest figures from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) [...]
South Korea’s central bank has today elected to lift interest rates in order tame high inflation. The move did not come as a surprise to analysts after the bank lifted its main interest rate from 2.75% to 3%. Analysts believe more rate hikes are on the cards, with many predicting rates to be between 3.5% [...]
Brazil, which is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, recently admitted that inflation is spiralling out of control. Yesterday, the central bank lifted its key interest rate to 11.75% from 11.25%, in a bid to tame inflation, which at 5.91% exceeds the Government’s target of 4.5%. The move, which was widely expected, is the [...]
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 [...]
The Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR), which was established in May, has today revised its growth forecast for the UK for the 2010 year. The independent body, which was set up by the coalition Government to assess the state of public finances, has lifted its economic growth forecast from 1.2% to 1.8% – slightly higher [...]
It appears the European Commission is optimistic about the euro zone’s growth prospects after lifting GDP forecasts. According to the Commission, growth of 1.8% in the EU for 2010 is expected – slightly higher than its previous estimate of 1%. Meanwhile, for the 16-member euro zone, it is forecasting growth of 1.7% – up from [...]
As the second anniversary of the Lehman Brother collapse nears, regulators and central bank governors have met in Basel, Switzerland this weekend to discuss tougher capital rules. The agreement could force banks to raise fresh equity in order to withstand future downturns in the global financial system. Following the global financial crisis, the G20 leading [...]
Bank of England policymaker, Andrew Sentance, has reiterated that the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) needs to gradually lift interest rates from their historic level of 0.5% as high inflation persists. The latest official data shows that British annual consumer price inflation (CPI) eased to 3.2% in June – down from 3.5% in May – [...]
After a two-day policy board meeting, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) has elected to keep interest rates at 0.1%, as widely expected. Interest rates in the world’s second largest economy have been at the low level since December 2008 in a bid to fight off deflation. Deflation (where prices fall rather than increase) can be [...]
Work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, is expected to announce today that the state pension age will rise to 66 for men – as early as 2016. Furthermore, the Government is to raise the option of extending it further, perhaps to 70 and beyond in the following decades. The former Labour Government’s policy was [...]
The Bank of Canada has today elected to raise interest rates by one quarter of a percentage point to 0.5%, as widely expected. As a result, Canada has become the first G7 central bank to raise rates since the onset of the recession. Yesterday, it emerged that the Canadian economy expanded by an annualised 6.1% [...]
Statistics Canada announced today that the Canadian economy expanded by an annualised 6.1% in the first three months of 2010. The figure was slightly better than the 6% analysts had expected and comes after a 4.9% expansion in the final three months of 2009. The growth has led economists to believe that the Bank of [...]
Prime Minister David Cameron has today said the Bank of England needs to set interest rates in order to control inflation. UK inflation rose to 3.7% in April – the highest level in 17 months and far exceeding the 2% target. The rise was boosted by food, fuel and clothing price gains. Annual food inflation [...]
Influential think-tank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), has raised its worldwide growth forecasts in its twice-yearly report. The Paris-based Organisation said the global economy is recovering faster than expected with Asia continuing to drive the expansion. However, debt crises in many countries may threaten expansion in the developed world, the OECD warned. [...]
The Trade and Industry Ministry today announced that Singapore’s economy saw first quarter annualised growth of 32.1% – compared with a 2.8% fall in the previous quarter. According to the Ministry, the growth was driven by manufacturing activity and the central bank has therefore raised its 2010 growth forecast to between 7% and 9%. The [...]
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) surprised markets on Friday by raising its key lending and borrowing rates by 25 basis points, in order to combat rising inflation. The hike sparked fears that other central banks in Asia may increase their efforts to fight inflation, which sent shares lower throughout Asia today. Hong Kong lost [...]
The World Bank has raised its GDP forecast for China and urged the Government to let the yuan appreciate to stop the economy overheating. China‘s economy, which is currently the world’s third largest, has led the way in the global recovery and many have described its recovery as “impressive”. In a quarterly update on China, [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
About | Privacy | Disclaimer | Resources | XML Feeds | Press Releases | Directory | Contact us
