Greece’s parliament has today approved the fresh round of austerity measures – designed to save the country from defaulting on its debts. The measures were one of the conditions of the next instalment of its bailout loan. MPs passed the measures by 155 votes to 138. The latest austerity measures will according to Prime Minister [...]
Protesters have gathered on the streets of Athens today as a 48-hour general strike commences, which will see the country come to a virtual standstill. Apart from the metro, no public transport is operating as many people opt to join the fourth general strike called this year by the country’s two largest unions. The general [...]
Once again, fears for Portugal and Spain are raised as borrowing costs surge to high levels as Ireland’s debt crisis looks set to spread. Yields on 10-year Portuguese bonds rose to 6.9% - mimicking what happened in Greece and Ireland - just before they were forced to seek emergency aid. Meanwhile, 10-year Spanish bonds surged [...]
Firefighters will go ahead with industrial action over the crucial bonfire night weekend after talks collapsed between the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the London Fire Authority yesterday. The strike, which will take place from 10am on November 5 to 9am on November 7, incorporates Bonfire Night – the fire service’s busiest period. Members embarked [...]
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 [...]
The French Government has today warned that strikes against pension cuts are costing the economy between €200 and €400 million per day. Ongoing protests and strikes against the Government’s changes to pensions have resulted in fuel shortages and travel chaos throughout the nation. France’s Finance Minister, Christine Lagarde, said: “Today, we shouldn’t be weighing down [...]
It has emerged this evening that thousands of London firefighters will strike on Bonfire Night in a dispute over new contracts, their union has announced. The strike, which will take place from 10am on November 5 to 9am on November 7, incorporates Bonfire Night - the fire service’s busiest period. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) [...]
A survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has revealed half of public sector workers would consider strike action in the event of pay cuts or changes to their pensions. The CIPD said 49% of workers surveyed agreed with the statement “workers have to do what’s necessary to protect their jobs [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is regarded as a barometer of British retailing, today announced that sales growth slowed last week - hit by warmer weather and a strike on the London Underground. The renowned employee-owned department store said sales at its 28 department stores and two “at home” stores grew 7.2% to £59.5 million [...]
Further talks have taken place at conciliation service, ACAS, between British Airways (BA) and the Unite union in the latest bid to avert strikes by the airline’s cabin crew members. Cabin crew have been in a long-running dispute with the airline over cost-cutting measures, which include a pay freeze, a switch to part-time working for [...]
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 [...]
Bank of England governor Mervyn King will today prepare himself for questions from union leaders over Government spending cuts. Mr King becomes only the second governor in history to address the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Earlier this week, it was revealed that the tough austerity measures introduced by the coalition Government are set to lead [...]
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU) auditors have today said Greece has made “considerable progress” in dealing with its public deficit. For many months now, Greece has been making big cuts to public spending. However, this has met with strong opposition from unions. Greece’s two main unions have launched several strikes this year [...]
BAA has today reported a further fall in passenger numbers at its six British airports in June, as a result of the British Airways (BA) strikes during the month. BAA, which is majority owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, said passenger traffic fell 1.7% in June year-on-year - due to the ongoing disruption from the strike. So [...]
Telecoms giant BT has avoided strike action after reaching an agreement on pay with the Communication Workers Union (CWU). Workers were threatening strike action after senior executives were awarded huge bonuses which angered staff. However, a new deal, which the union has described as “fantastic” for its members resulted in a 2.3% rise in BT’s [...]
The tough austerity measures implemented by the Greek Government appear to be a success after the country’s Finance Minister, George Papaconstantinou, claimed the deficit has been trimmed by 42% this year and the country had “met its goal“. According to figures from the central bank, the deficit was €11.5 billion in the first half of [...]
Greece’s two main unions have called a fresh general strike for July 8 to protest against tough austerity measures, introduced by the Government to trim the country’s budget deficit. Should the strike go ahead, it will be the country’s 6th since February. However, some of the protests have been violent. Last week’s strike saw seven [...]
Greece continues to rebel against tough austerity measures as the country embarked on its fifth general strike. Ferries, public transport and other state services came to a standstill to protest against Government plans to cut pension benefits and public servants’ pay. More than 15,000 people took to the streets in Athens and the northern city [...]
Fresh strike action is looming at British Airways (BA) after the Unite union has announced plans to ballot its 12,000 cabin crew members next week, unless the long-running dispute is resolved. So far, cabin crews have held 22 days of strikes after being involved in a long-running dispute with the airline over cost-cutting measures, which [...]
Telecoms giant BT could be faced with industrial action after the union which represents BT workers has confirmed that a strike ballot will go ahead. The ballot will open on 18 June with the result is due on 5 July. The vote for strike action, which would be the first in 25 years, comes as [...]
CBI: Decline in retail sales slows in October
According to the latest Confederation of British Industry (CBI) distributive trades survey, the fall in retail sales slowed in October, but only a modest rise in volumes is expected next month. Consumers continue to be cautious about the economic outlook and rein in their spending on the back of rising unemployment, higher inflation and slow [...]
Euro zone leaders agree to deal
Following a tense summit in Brussels last night, it has been announced that euro zone leaders have reached a deal which they say will help resolve the growing debt crisis in the 17-member nation. The deal will see the euro zone’s main bailout fund expanded to €1 trillion, while banks will accept a loss of [...]
Policymaker says another recession is likely
Bank of England policymaker Paul Fisher has today said Britain is likely to suffer another recession. His comments come just a few days after fellow Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member, Martin Weale, warned that a contraction in the fourth quarter is possible. Returning to Mr Fisher, he was asked how likely a double dip recession [...]
US economic growth rises in Q3
The world’s largest economy expanded at its fastest pace in a year in the three months to the end of September, official figures revealed today. According to the Commerce Department, the US economy grew at an annualised rate of 2.5% in the third quarter of this year. The figure was in line with forecasts but [...]
CBI: Confidence among manufacturers slump
According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), confidence among UK manufacturing firms has slumped as a result of the debt crisis in the euro zone, as well as a fall in expectations for future growth. The latest industrial trends survey by the employers’ group established that 30% more businesses were pessimistic about the future [...]
Euro crisis: Leaders gather for emergency summit
EU leaders are travelling to Brussels for an emergency summit – the 14th in 21 months – designed to tackle the euro zone debt crisis. The summit will also see leaders discuss Greece’s second bailout, as well as boosting the €440 billion rescue fund. There are still growing fears that Greece’s debt crisis could spread [...]
US consumer confidence slumps in October
US consumer confidence slumped in October, the Conference Board has reported. The closely-monitored Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board dived to 39.8 this month from September’s reading of 46.4. Not only was the reading less than forecasts of a level of 46.0, it was the lowest since March 2009, when the US was in [...]
BoE Governor: QE may not boost lending
Mervyn King, the Bank of England’s Governor, has confessed that the latest round of stimulus is not guaranteed to boost lending to SMEs. The ongoing lack of credit to SMEs has been a major concern for the Government as these companies are the key to job creation in the UK and are expected to be [...]
India lifts interest rates further to combat inflation
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has today raised key interest rates for the thirteenth time since March 2010, in a bid to tame stubbornly high inflation. The central bank lifted its main rate to 8.5% from 8.25% as inflation soars on the back of higher food and fuel prices and the measures were widely [...]
Markit: Household finances continue to be squeezed
The Markit Household Finance Index (HFI) has today published a gloomy report as families’ finances were slightly worse in October than in September. Meanwhile, Markit’s HFI, which measures prospects for finances over the coming year, dived to 34.5 this month, from September’s reading of 42.2. The reading represented the lowest in the survey’s history and [...]
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