With the Bank of England set to keep interest rates at record low City A.M.’s shadow MPC votes six-three to hold December 10, 2015 A renewed drop in oil prices to below $40 a barrel has led many of the members of City A.M.’s shadow monetary policy committee to vote to keep interest rates at their record lows this month. Inflation remained in negative territory in October, well below the Bank of England’s two per cent target. While a [...]
Bubble fears as average London property hits £600,000 with outer boroughs seeing highest rises December 10, 2015 The average price of a London property is now just shy of £600,000, reigniting fears of a bubble and prompting talk of a market correction. The average London house price was £598,173 in October, 5.6 per cent higher than the same month last year, according to figures released today by estate agents Your Move and Reeds [...]
Commodity prices stabilise following two day rout December 9, 2015 The price of hard commodities plateaued yesterday, following a two day retreat that spooked investors and caused huge sell offs of oil and mining stocks. The oil price also managed to stabilise, hovering just above the $40 mark for most of the day, despite dipping below the line briefly for the second day. Oil did [...]
HMRC publishes draft legislation designed to extend tax evasion offences to companies who failed to prevent it happening December 9, 2015 HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) today published the results of its consultation, alongside draft legislation, for a proposed criminal offence for companies which fail to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion. The draft legislation lays down provisions for a criminal offence where somebody who is performing services on behalf of a company commits tax evasion. [...]
End of austerity? Not according to Cambridge Dictionaries’ people’s word of the year 2015 December 9, 2015 If you thought it was the end of austerity, think again. It's the word people searched for most often and most regularly on Cambridge Dictionaries online and has been crowned "people's" word of the year by their researchers. It was apparently the "clear front runner", appearing on its weekly most searched list at five separate times throughout [...]
Brazil’s inflation hits 12-year high as food prices climb December 9, 2015 Brazil’s annual inflation rose to 10.5 per cent for November, marking a 12-year high on the back of a spike in food prices and the rising cost of electricity. This higher-than-expected figure for consumer prices marks an increase from October, when the country's inflation stood at 9.9 per cent, and September, when it was 9.5 per cent. Brazil's [...]
Brent crude oil prices steady after yesterday’s sell-off December 9, 2015 Oil prices recovered losses this morning, drawing a line under two days of turmoil prompted by indecision from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Brent crude oil prices, the global benchmark, rose 1.1 per cent at $40.70 per barrel this morning, while US West Texas Intermediate jumped 1.6 per cent at $38.05 per barrel. [...]
Government pledges world class train services to boost Northern Powerhouse as it awards contracts to Arriva Rail North and First Trans Pennine Express December 9, 2015 The government has promised to deliver world class train services for passengers in Scotland and the north with "unprecedented" packages of improvements being lined up. The Department for Transport has pledged to introduce more than 500 brand-new carriages, the removal of the outdated and unpopular Pacer trains, room for 40,000 extra passengers at the busiest [...]
UK manufacturing in terminal decline as growth rate revised down through to 2017 December 9, 2015 The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has downgraded its UK gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for the year to 2.4 per cent, from a previous prediction of 2.6 per cent. At the same time its scaled back expectations for the next to years with 2016 and 2017 now both forecast for 2.5 per cent [...]
World Bank: East Asia needs ‘womb-to-tomb’ policies to deal with ageing population and shrinking workforce December 9, 2015 East Asia needs to introduce ‘womb-to-tomb’ policies to deal with the decline in the labour force and higher public spending that will come with an ageing population, the World Bank has warned today. By 2040, the number of working-age adults could fall by more than 15 per cent in Korea and over 10 per cent [...]