Australian mining tax could be axed after PM is ousted June 23, 2010 AUSTRALIAN Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stood down this morning after calling a surprise leadership ballot, throwing negotiations on a new mining supertax in the country into jeopardy. Rudd’s deputy, Julia Gillard, will become Australia’s first female Prime Minister after Rudd resigned before the ballot of Labor party MPs at 9am local time (midnight BST). Gillard [...]
Banks mull measures to avoid UK levy June 23, 2010 BANKING analysts at UBS yesterday predicted a surge in creative accounting practices in the banking sector, as firms look to manipulate their books to minimise the impact of the government’s new balance sheet levy. The team at UBS, led by respected analyst John-Paul Crutchley, has already begun to identify possible opportunities for individual banks to [...]
Moody’s joins Fitch and backs Osborne’s austerity Budget June 23, 2010 THE massive £113bn fiscal tightening unveiled by George Osborne earlier this week should ensure Britain retains its AAA credit rating, Moody’s said yesterday. The comments, which follow similar remarks from fellow ratings agency Fitch, will boost the chancellor, who has staked his reputation on ensuring Britain maintains the highest credit rating possible. “The UK Budget [...]
Worst cuts for the UK since World War II June 23, 2010 WHITEHALL is bracing itself for the longest, and deepest sustained period of cuts to public service spending since at least the Second World War, which could see some departments see their budgets slashed by as much as 33 per cent by 2014-15 in real terms. Leading think-tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) yesterday confirmed [...]
IFS rejects Budget’s progressive claims June 23, 2010 THE Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) yesterday rejected chancellor George Osborne’s confident claim on Tuesday of a progressive Budget that would spread the pain across all sections of society but that the richest would contribute more than the poorest. James Browne at the IFS said yesterday that the fiscal consolidation measures announced by the coalition [...]
Osborne’s fiscal mandate must focus on the long-term, warns think-tank June 23, 2010 TWO major pitfalls threaten the credibility of George Osborne’s new fiscal mandate and debt target, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said yesterday, although it gave both a cautious welcome. While it applauded the forward-looking nature of the mandate to achieve a balanced structural current budget by the end of the forecast horizon, it warned that [...]
Budget score is 7 out of 10, say our panel June 23, 2010 GEORGE Osborne’s first Budget deserves a score of seven out of ten, our unique panel of London’s financiers and business professionals said yesterday. The City A.M./PoliticsHome.com Panel, which has been specially recruited to represent a cross section of London’s financial community, was also asked whether they thought the toughest fiscal consolidation in Britain’s peacetime history [...]
Eighty per cent of directors give Osborne the thumbs up June 23, 2010 EIGHTY per cent of company directors support George Osborne’s emergency Budget, according to a survey. The Institute of Directors (IoD) said four out of five members backed the chancellor’s plan for the biggest fiscal consolidation in Britain’s peacetime history. Of the 640 directors surveyed, 83 per cent said the measures would have a positive impact [...]
ACTOR KEVIN SPACEY ENJOYS A RETURN TO THE TRADING FLOOR June 23, 2010 ACTOR and Old Vic artistic director Kevin Spacey is becoming quite the dab hand on the trading floor, if reports from our Stateside friends are to be believed. Bankers at Citigroup in New York were astonished last week when Spacey popped into their offices to do a spot of research for his new movie, Margin [...]
PM confirms public sector pensions cut June 23, 2010 THE PRIME Minister yesterday confirmed the pensions of existing public sector workers will be cut, as he defended the coalition Budget in a tetchy question and answer session with voters. Cameron said the bill for public sector pensions was too high and that schemes would become less favourable for existing members of staff as well [...]