Credit rating agency Moody’s has downgraded Spain’s credit rating today – just a day after unions held a general strike to protest against tough austerity measures. Like many other euro zone nations, Spain has introduced austerity measures, aimed at cutting its budget deficit, which is currently 11% of GDP. Spain aims to reduce the deficit [...]
The results of the European banking stress tests have been published over the weekend with just over half a dozen of the 91 banks failing the tests. The Committee of European Banking Supervisors (CEBS) said seven of the banks failed the tests, which were conducted to ease increasing anxiety over Europe’s finance sector. The banks [...]
The results of the European banking stress tests are to be published today. The stress tests were conducted to ease increasing anxiety over Europe’s finance sector. A total of 91 banks from across Europe have been tested and regulators have assessed whether banks are strong enough to cope with any future economic crises, or to [...]
Economic think tank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), has today said unemployment remains a concern in rich economies. In particular, the OECD has expressed concern for the UK economy, after the Government axed investment for job programmes. It believes the unemployment rate will hover around the 8% mark for at least the [...]
Italian workers are the latest to stage strikes amid tough austerity measures, introduced by the country’s Government to bring its budget deficit down. The union, CGIL, called the strike, after cuts were made in funding for local Government, as well as the freezing of public sector pay. Protests were held in Rome, Milan and Bologna, [...]
Spanish public sector workers will go on strike today to protest against austerity measures, which include average cuts this year to public workers’ salaries of 5%. As well as a 5% cut for civil servants, there will be severe cuts in public investment and development aid. Today’s strikes, which have been set up by Spain’s [...]
Fitch Ratings cut Spain’s credit rating from the maximum AAA to AA+ on Friday and the news comes just a week after one of the country’s banks, CajaSur, was bailed out. Standard & Poor’s cut Spain’s credit rating a month ago and comes as the country has been forced to implement tough austerity measures in [...]
Italy is the latest euro zone nation to introduce a three-year austerity plan worth €24 billion (£20 billion), in a bid to bring its deficit down to below 3% of GDP by 2012 – from 5.3% currently. Greece, Spain and Portugal have already implemented tough austerity measures, but they have angered workers and led to [...]
Stock markets across the world fell sharply today over ongoing fears about the debt crisis in the euro zone. London’s FTSE fell below the crucial 5,000 mark today to 4,939.6 points – its lowest level for eight months. Germany’s Dax index lost 2.7%, while France’s Cac 40 index fell 3.2%. Earlier in the day, Asian [...]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued a severe warning to the Spanish economy suggesting it needs “far-reaching” reforms to ensure its recovery. The economy, which is the euro zone’s fourth largest, exited recession in the first quarter of the year after experiencing growth of just 0.1% – ending a run of seven consecutive quarters [...]
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 European Union has announced that the first tranche of financial aid will become available to Greece today. EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner, Olli Rehn, said €20 billion (£17.6 billion), from the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), will be transferred on 18 May. The funds are designed to help Greece overcome its [...]
Shares have fallen across Britain, Europe and the US today after concerns about austerity measures in Greece, Portugal and Spain have re-surfaced. The euro also fell against the US dollar to $1.25 – the first time since March last year. The euro has already shed 12% this year against the dollar and is set to [...]
Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, has today unveiled tough measures to deal with the country’s deficit, which is currently 11% of GDP. Spain plans to reduce the deficit by 4.7% by the end of next year and endeavours to achieve this by cutting pensions and civil service salaries. Speaking in parliament, the PM [...]
Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, is set to unveil massive budget cuts later as fears mount that the debt crisis in Greece may spread to Spain. The country’s deficit is currently 11% of GDP and Spain plans to reduce it by 4.7% by the end of next year. There have been fears that [...]
The Spanish economy has finally emerged from recession after experiencing growth of just 0.1% in the first quarter of 2010, ending a run of seven consecutive quarters of contraction. A report from the country’s central bank said: “The information available indicates a return to weak growth in the first quarter in an environment characterised by [...]
The European Commission has predicted that the 16-member euro zone will see growth of 0.9% this year – slightly better than the 0.7% forecast earlier this year. However, Greece‘s economy, which has been in recession since the second quarter of 2009, is expected to contract by 3% this year, as the country in in the [...]
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 Federal Labour Agency has today announced German unemployment fell sharply in April to 8.1%, from 8.5% the previous month. The latest fall means the unemployment rate in the euro zone’s largest economy is at the lowest level since January 2009. The agency’s chief, Frank-Juergen Weise, said: “There was an unexpectedly strong springtime upturn on [...]
Spanish banking giant, Santander, has today posted a 6% rise in first quarter net profit, fuelled by strong growth in Brazil and the UK. The bank said net profit totalled €2.215 billion (£1.93 billion) against €2.10 billion in the same period a year ago. The bank’s results come just one day after credit rating agency [...]
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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