South Korea cuts interest rate to record low amid Mers outbreak June 11, 2015 South Korea has had to slash its benchmark interest rate to a record low amid a deadly outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers). Bank of Korea cut its main interest rate by 0.25 per cent taking it to 1.5 per cent amid dampening domestic demand and slowing exports. "In particular, we are concerned [...]
Standard & Poor’s lowers Greece’s credit rating to CCC, warns it could be downgraded further June 11, 2015 Well, this is a surprise. Standard & Poor's has lowered Greece's credit rating one notch to CCC and said it could be lowered again within the next year as the country's financial situation worsens. Although normally S&P would be restricted from altering its rating of Greece outside a “pre-established calendar”, the agency said [...]
Mansion House speech: George Osborne kicks starts £60bn sell-off with RBS stake June 10, 2015 Chancellor George Osborne last night kicked off a £60bn sale of state-owned financial assets, announcing he will sell a stake in bailed-out bank RBS in the coming months. The enormous wave of privatisations includes the sale of a remaining £11.5bn holding in Lloyds, while bidders including Goldman Sachs compete to buy £13bn of mortgage assets [...]
Mansion House speech: The age of irresponsibility is over, says Mark Carney June 10, 2015 Tens of thousands more City workers face an unprecedented crackdown on bad behaviour. The Bank of England last night recommended extending the senior managers’ regime to all fixed income, currencies and commodities traders at banks, as well as their counterparts at interdealer brokerages and buy-side asset managers. Bank of England governor Mark Carney also wants [...]
George Osborne’s great government sell-off: Taxpayers risk getting burnt as sun may yet shine on RBS June 10, 2015 So after almost seven years, the moment has arrived. The symbolic importance of George Osborne’s announcement last night that the Treasury is to begin selling Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) shares at a loss is hard to overstate. “I’m not interested in what is easy – I’m interested in what is right,” he told [...]
Alexis Tsipras: Lenders want Greece to return to growth June 10, 2015 Greece’s Prime Minister emerged from another round of crunch talks with the country’s creditors in the early hours of this morning, insisting that his fellow leaders are leaning towards his way of thinking. Alexis Tsipras met with Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande in Brussels and when he left the building he insisted the German and [...]
North Sea firms forced to slash projects in face of low oil price June 10, 2015 Over two-thirds of North Sea oil firms have been forced to scrap projects due to plummeting oil prices over the past year, a new report reveals today. Although the price of benchmark Brent crude has rallied in the last few days, trading yesterday at around $66 a barrel, it has yet to approach the level [...]
Business says PM is giving the wrong answer on immigration June 10, 2015 Business groups roundly rejected the Prime Minister’s latest proposals to cut migration, saying they were “not the answer,” “far less business-friendly” and a “red herring” in the immigration debate. Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday, David Cameron said that the independent Migration Advisory Committee (Mac) was looking at proposals to cut non-European work migration, including [...]
Heathrow or Gatwick runway expansion? Business groups slam delay over airports action June 10, 2015 Politicians must act quickly to implement the recommendations of the Airports Commission or risk being accused of dithering, business groups said yesterday, hitting out at reports that it could be early 2016 before any government action is taken. The commission, overseen by ex-City watchdog Sir Howard Davies, has been looking into the state of [...]
UK house price growth expected to surge as post-election supply bounce lacking June 10, 2015 Hopes for a post-election surge in the supply of houses to the market have failed to materialise, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said today. “Tight supply conditions continue to be a key factor underpinning prices, with fresh instructions to sell becoming increasingly sparse while average stocks per surveyor fell to a new record [...]