As widely expected, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has raised interest rates from 3.75% to 4%. The RBA has increased interest rates four times since October and many analysts believe interest rates could hit 4.25% in the short-term. Australia is one of the few developed economies not to have fallen into recession like its [...]
The US Federal Reserve stunned markets by raising its discount rate (the interest rate it charges banks for emergency loans) by 25bps to 0.75%. The news sent the pound down to its lowest level against the US dollar in nine months, while Asian equity markets reacted cautiously as they digested the news. Furthermore, the euro [...]
The collapse of the remortage market as borrowers coming to the end of fixed-rate deals opt to remain on reversion rates, is prompting lenders to raise their standard variable rates (SRVs). According to Moneyfacts.co.uk some borrowers on SVRs have benefited from the record low 0.5% base rate but others have not been so lucky. The [...]
The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, yesterday lifted its outlook for economic growth in 2010 to a range of 2.5% to 3.5%. The forecast was raised marginally from its July estimate of between 2.1% and 3.3%, indicating that the US expects unemployment to ease early next year. Currently, the US unemployment rate is at [...]
In a bid to speed up trips to the shops, supermarket giant Tesco has opened the first self-service store in Northampton. The Tesco Express store has five self-service tills but no manned checkouts. There is, however, one member of staff available to authorise transactions for age-restricted items such as alcohol and knives. The news will [...]
Shares in Barclays lost nearly 5% today after reports suggested that Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund was looking to sell 379 million shares in the bank in order to raise funds to bid for supermarket giant Sainsbury’s. The news sent Barclays shares down by 18.25p to 363.75p while Sainsbury’s rose 11p to 341.5p. The shares in [...]
In an effort to tackle Britain’s spiralling public debt, the Government has today unveiled proposals that will see it raise £16 billion via asset sales. In order to reduce the budget deficit, which is set to hit a record £220 billion (the equivalent of 12% of GDP), the Government has taken action by ordering sale [...]
If the Conservatives win the next election, they will raise the state pension age for men from 65 to 66 from 2016. Furthermore, the Conservatives have not ruled out an increase in the pension age for women towards 66. Under Conservative policy, the state retirement age for both men and women is set to be [...]
In a move that could be seen as a snub to the Government, state-owned Northern Rock has increased rates on some of its most attractive mortgage deals. For new borrowers, the bank’s one-year fixed mortgage rate has increased from 3.99% to 4.19%. Meanwhile, rates on the lender’s two and five-year fixed-rate home loans have risen [...]
Abbey has announced that it is increasing rates on its two and three-year tracker mortgages for new borrowers, by up to 0.5%. The news comes as analysts are predicting that the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee will cut the base rate by least 0.5%, and possibly 1%, later this week. Tracker rates provide a [...]
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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