Annual inflation in the 16-member euro zone has increased from 1.4% in June to 1.7% last month – a 20-month high. On a monthly basis, prices fell 0.3% in July. According to the EU statistics agency Eurostat, inflation was driven by higher fuel costs. Meanwhile, across the 27 nations in the European Union, annual inflation [...]
The Bank of England is today scheduled to publish its quarterly inflation report and is expected to raise its inflation forecast but lower its economic growth prediction. The Bank’s Governor, Mervyn King, is expected to highlight that the decision to hike VAT to 20% next year will undoubtedly keep inflation higher. In its last quarterly [...]
Earlier this month, Business Secretary Vince Cable warned that the UK’s car industry will not receive any further funding from the Government but said it would consider investing in measures which would reduce emissions from cars and to help transform the UK into a low carbon economy. As a result, the Government has today unveiled [...]
Today’s budget, currently being delivered by Chancellor George Osborne, has bought with it many painful cuts. Firstly, VAT will be increased from 17.5% to 20% from 4 January, 2011 – this is expected to raise £13 billion a year, according to Osborne. However, “essentials” such as food, newspapers and children’s clothing will remain exempt from [...]
Today’s budget, which represents the tightest in 3 decades, is likely to bring painful tax hikes and harsh spending cuts. The tough measures are designed to deal with Britain’s record deficit of £155 billion and will be delivered today by Chancellor George Osborne at 1230 BST (1130 GMT). According to Mr Osborne, the massive spending [...]
In a bid to ease the pain from severe spending cuts, Chancellor George Osborne has said the coalition Government will proceed with its proposal to freeze council tax in England. Tomorrow’s budget is expected to bring tax hikes and deep benefit cuts so the council tax freeze is expected to help “millions of families…… at [...]
Chancellor George Osborne will deliver his budget on Tuesday and while many believe that the massive spending cuts pose a threat to the fragile recovery, he said they will save Britain from the problems which debt-stricken Greece faces. Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show today, Mr Osborne said: “Unless we take determined and concerted [...]
Chancellor George Osborne will unveil his emergency budget next week and tax hikes are expected. However, according to business group, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), “punishing” tax rises could hit economic growth. A rise in capital gains tax (CGT) is expected. This is the levy firms or individuals pay on the profit gained from [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed a slight rise in retail sales for the month of April – boosted by stronger clothing and department store sales. According to the ONS, sales volumes including fuel grew 0.3% in April – slightly beating analysts’ forecasts of a 0.2% rise and follows a revised increase [...]
Leading economists have said VAT will rise to 20% by the end of 2011 under the new coalition Government. According to a BBC survey, 24 out of 29 economists used by the Treasury expect the sales tax to rise, in order to try to pay back the UK’s fiscal deficit. Prior to the election, all [...]
According to Schroders European economist, Azad Zangana, we can expect to see a rise in VAT after the general election. In their election manifestos, the Labour Government and the Conservative party have not ruled out an increase from the current rate of 17.5%. Last month, Gordon Brown said he was leaving open the possibility of [...]
The Labour Government is not ruling out a VAT rise but is set to pledge not to raise income tax rates for the lifetime of the next Parliament. These are two items set to be on Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s election manifesto today in Birmingham. However, while the PM is leaving open the possibility of [...]
The Pre-Election Budget will be delivered today by Chancellor Alistair Darling but he has repeatedly said there will be no “giveaways” ahead of the general election. What we can expect to see, though, are more details of how the Government expects to trim the budget deficit. Mr Darling has previously pledged to halve the budget [...]
In order to tackle the UK’s deficit, tax hikes could well be on the agenda, according to reports today. Last week, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne suggested that no new tax rises will be required in order to cut the UK’s ballooning deficit. However, in a dramatic u-turn, asked by the BBC yesterday [...]
The Office for National Statistics has today announced that Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose to a 14-month high of 3.5% in January – as widely expected. The rise in inflation has been driven by higher petrol costs and the effects of the reduction in the standard rate of VAT. Meanwhile, CPI fell 0.2% on the [...]
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) will announce the UK inflation rate this morning, which analysts are expecting to be around 3.5%. Last month, the ONS reported that Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) rose at its fastest annual pace in 9 months in December, rising to an annual rate to 2.9%. The rise was driven by [...]
The key services sector slowed in January as a result of bad weather and the VAT rise, according to analysts. The latest activity index from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS)/Markit PMI showed a reading of 54.5 in January from the 56.8 in December – however, any reading above 50 indicates growth. The [...]
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has today revealed sales of new cars grew by 57.6% in November compared with the same month in 2008, boosted by the Government’s scrappage scheme. November also represented the fifth consecutive monthly rise. July saw the first monthly rise, prior to that there were 15 successive months [...]
New figures from The Conservative Party claim that around two million house sellers have so far stumped up a combined £657.6 million for Home Information Packs (HIPs). The packs were phased in during 2007, just as the UK property market began to crumble, and their usefulness has remained in question as they do not contain [...]
Last December, the Government cut the VAT rate from 17.5% to 15% in an attempt to boost spending. However, the rate is to revert back to the normal 17.5% level from 1 January 2010 but research shows that Britons are unaware and unprepared. Research from Auto Trader shows that 12 million Brits are unaware of [...]
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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