Should the UK worry about its record current account deficit? March 31, 2016 The UK's current account deficit has reached its highest level since comparable records began in 1955. It rose to £32.7bn in the final three months of 2015, equal to seven per cent of GDP. A big current account deficit can often be a precursor to an economic crisis, so should the UK worry about it? A sign [...]
The mortgage market is helping to fuel a new credit boom March 31, 2016 Lending in the UK is recovering strongly. The annual growth rate of total lending hit 4.8 per cent in February, according to figures released by the Bank of England this morning. It is the highest growth rate since 2009 when lending was plummeting. Here's what is helping to drive it: Mortgage lending Borrowing is bouncing back in [...]
Is China reforming fast enough? Standard and Poor’s doesn’t think so March 31, 2016 China has been told to get a move on with economic reforms if it wants to maintain its top-notch credit rating today, after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) warned that its economic rebalancing is taking too long. The ratings agency said it was downgrading its outlook for China’s sovereign debt from “stable” to “negative”, firing a [...]
Cautious UK companies begin belt-tightening as business investment stutters in the face of oil price crash and fears of Brexit March 31, 2016 British firms may be battening down the hatches and trimming back on business investment in the face of global turmoil and the Brexit referendum, according to statistics released this morning. Official figures showed that the amount invested by firms into new assets like buildings, machines, equipment, and intellectual property, slipped by two per cent in [...]
Party on: Pound bounces as UK GDP growth is revised upwards March 31, 2016 Things aren't as bad as we thought, it turns out – after official figures showed UK GDP rose 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year, rather than the 0.5 per cent originally thought. The figures, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning, showed growth in December 2015 compared with the same [...]
UK house prices: Sales to first-time buyers pause in February despite year-on-year rise March 31, 2016 The number of first-time home buyers rose by seven per cent in the year to February despite a slight drop in activity since the start of the year, new data today shows. First time buyer sales stood at 21,000 last month, which was 6.6 per cent ahead of February 2015’s figure of 19,800, according to Your [...]
Brexit uncertainty could be weighing on consumer optimism March 31, 2016 Consumers have become more concerned over the UK’s economic outlook, according to new survey data released this morning. The confidence index produced by market researchers GFK remained at a score of zero in March. It is equal to February’s score of zero which was the lowest since 2014. Yet the index remains high by historical [...]
Slowing US oil stocks fail to prop up prices March 30, 2016 Oil prices failed to hold on to gains yesterday after rising on the latest data from the International Energy Agency (IEA), showing US crude inventories rose less than expected over the last week. Brent prices initially jumped to $40.54 a barrel in early afternoon trading but by the evening had dropped to $39.27. US benchmark [...]
Uncertainty, sure. Turmoil, probably. But this economist says Brexit might not be a disaster March 30, 2016 Britain will not awaken to a post-apocalyptic nightmare on 24 June if it votes to leave the European Union, a top economist has told City A.M. Dismissing the notion that Brexit would be a "disaster" for the UK economy, Jean-Michel Six, chief economist for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Standard & Poor's (S&P), also said [...]
London is leading a second post-crisis boom in house prices March 30, 2016 House prices across the country continue to surge. Data published by the Land Registry this morning shows the average UK property price was £190,275 in February, a 6.1 per cent climb on the same month last year. London leads London house price growth continued to outpace the rest of England and Wales. The average price [...]