The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has today said the Bank of England should lift interest rates to combat stubbornly high inflation. UK economic growth is being hampered by soaring inflation, which is having a major impact on consumer spending. As a result, the Organisation revised its growth forecasts for the UK, [...]
The Mortgage Rescue Scheme has been criticised by the National Audit Office (NAO) for missing targets. The Scheme was established by the Labour Government in late 2008 to help struggling homeowners in England facing repossession and allowed people to sell their property to a local authority or housing association but stay on as a tenant. [...]
Figures published by the Bank of England today have revealed that the “big five” banks loaned £16.8 billion to SMEs in the first quarter – around £2 billion short of the £19 billion target – agreed under the “Project Merlin”. Under the agreement, Project Merlin, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds, HSBC and Santander all [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) surged to an annual rate of 4.5% in April – a level not seen since October 2008 and higher than forecasts of a rise to 4.2%. The surprise surge in inflation comes after the rate dropped to 4% in March and was attributed [...]
According to figures from Eurostat today, euro zone inflation edged higher to 2.8% last month from March’s figure of 2.7%. The figure, which was more than expected, is the highest since October 2008 and comes as food and energy prices continue to rise. Last month, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates from 1% [...]
South Korea’s central bank has today elected to hold interest rates for the second consecutive month despite rising inflation. The move surprised analysts who had forecast a 0.25% rise. The latest figures from Statistics Korea showed the consumer price index hit 4.2% in April on an annual basis. The rate is higher than the central [...]
According to the Bank of England, inflation could reach 5% later this year, driven higher by rising energy costs. Energy costs are rising due to the surge in crude oil on the back of the ongoing political unrest in North Africa and the Middle East. In its latest quarterly inflation report, the Bank said upward [...]
Eurostat has revealed inflation in the 17-member euro zone rose to 2.7% in March – remaining above the European Central Bank’s (ECB) target of just below 2%. Rising inflation in the region led the ECB to lift interest rates this month from 1% to 1.25% – for the first time in almost three years. The [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) today announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) fell to an annual rate of 4% in March, from February’s 28-month high of 4.4%. The fall was attributed to food prices, which fell 1.4%. While it was the first time in eight months inflation had slowed, it still remains double the target [...]
Moody’s Investors Service has today downgraded Portugal’s debt rating, for the second time in less than a month, by one notch to Baa1 from A3. Moody’s also warned that a further downgrade is possible as a bailout becomes increasingly likely for the debt-laden country. It said the downgrade was “driven primarily by increased political, budgetary [...]
Bank of England policymaker Adam Posen believes inflation will plunge to 1.5% by the middle of next year. His expectation is for a much sharper fall than his fellow policy members. The American economist is so certain of his prediction that he has threatened to step down from the Committee, when his three-year term ends [...]
Minutes of the Bank of England’s March 9-10 meeting have been released today and have revealed the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) again voted 6-3 to lift interest rates and 8-1 to restart the Bank’s quantitative easing (QE) scheme. Adam Posen, again, called for an injection of £50 billion via the QE scheme to boost the [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed UK public sector borrowing was higher than expected last month. According to the ONS, public sector borrowing was £11.8 billion in February – the highest for the month of February since records began in 1993. Furthermore, the figure was far higher than the £6.9 billion expected [...]
The European Union’s statistics office Eurostat has revealed inflation in the euro zone rose to 2.4% on an annual basis in February, up from January‘s 2.3%. The rate remains above the European Central Bank’s (ECB) target of just below 2% and marks the third consecutive month inflation has been above target and represents the highest [...]
China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has today revealed the consumer price index rose 4.9% in February on an annual basis – the same figure as January. However, inflation is still well in excess of the 3% target set by the Government and was higher than analysts forecasts of 4.7%. The Government recently announced measures [...]
The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has today elected to keep UK interest rates on hold at the historically low level of 0.5%, as widely expected. Interest rates have now been at this low level since March 2009 – when the economy was in the midst of recession. Recent figures showed the economy [...]
The European Central Bank (ECB) today elected to keep interest rates on hold at the record low of 1% for the 21st consecutive month. The move came despite inflation exceeding the Bank’s target. Inflation in the 17-member euro zone rose to 2.4% in January – above the ECB’s target of just below 2%. The bank [...]
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 [...]
Statistics Korea has today announced the inflation rate has jumped to a 27-month high – driven by higher food and fuel costs. According to Statistics Korea, the consumer price index rose by 4.5% in February on an annual basis. The rate is now at the higher end of the central bank’s 2%-4% target. Analysts believe [...]
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has today reiterated that inflation will return to its target of 2% but the timescale is uncertain. His comments come after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last week announced Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose to an annual rate of 4% in January – the highest rate since November [...]
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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