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 [...]
Fifty-six-year old Ben Bernanke has won a second term as chairman of US central bank, the Federal Reserve. The US Senate confirmed the appointment after it voted 77-23 in favour of Bernanke, whose current term ends on Sunday. At the time of his nomination last August, US President Barack Obama said: “Mr Bernanke had helped [...]
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is supporting plans to let the over 65s continue working. Earlier this month, minister for Women and Equality, Harriet Harman, announced a major shake-up in the retirement law which will see workers no longer forced to retire at 65. Miss Harman believes a radical change in the law is [...]
Figures published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed a severe fall UK car production. Car output fell 47.5% in December compared with a year earlier, with 53,823 cars produced. For the 2009 year as a whole, 1,446,619 cars were produced – a fall of 5.7% on the previous year. The [...]
Over the weekend, G20 finance ministers at St Andrews in Fife reached an agreement to maintain financial support until recovery is ensured. The agreement was reached following concerns over rising unemployment and unsteady growth which saw finance ministers from developing and rich countries vow to keep fiscal measures in place until global recovery is assured. [...]
Lone-parent campaign group Gingerbread has said new rules mean unemployed single parents are facing severe pressure to return to work by the Government. According to the charity, new regulations means almost 70,000 single parents with a child aged 10 to 16 will now receive jobseekers’ allowance instead of income support. Currently, single parents aged over [...]
The chairman of the Financial Services Authority is supporting a new tax on banks, aimed at curbing the bonus culture in the City. In an interview with Prospect magazine, Lord Turner attacked the industry and said some of the City’s activities had “swollen beyond its socially useful size” and was happy to consider taxing it. [...]
87% of new shares offered by Lloyds Banking Group have been bought by the bank’s shareholders. Strong support was expected since the shares were offered at 38.43p – heavily discounted from last Thursday’s closing price of 67.1p. Lloyds announced the cash call in order to replace the £4 billion of preference shares held by the [...]
Banking giant HSBC has rejected the Government’s offer of emergency funding. The UK’s largest banking group said it had not sought capital support from the UK Government and cannot envisage circumstances where such action would be necessary. Unlike other banks, HSBC has been relatively unaffected by the credit crisis due to its focus on emerging [...]
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has reported that almost 50% first-time buyers under the age of 30 look for family help to secure their first mortgage. Financial help from relatives has always played a part in a fortunate minority getting a foot on the property ladder but the need has been increasing; in 2006, [...]
Price comparison website, Moneysupermarket.com, has reported that over 50% of the first-time buyers that approach mortgage lenders using its site are receiving financial support from parents. Those attempting to get a foot on the property ladder have been particularly hard hit by borrowers raising deposit requirements and according to research from Moneysupermarket, parents are providing [...]
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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