Rate cut calls grow August 29, 2008 Bank of England monetary policy committee (MPC) member David “Danny” Blanchflower warned two million Britons could be out of work by Christmas as he urged the central bank to cut interest rates. Blanchflower, who has voted for a rate cut at the past eight monthly MPC meetings, said yesterday that a cut of more than [...]
House price fall takes UK to the brink August 29, 2008 Economy on the verge of crisis as house prices fall at their sharpest rate for 18 years Fresh evidence that Britain’s economy is on the brink of crisis continues to emerge after August house prices fell at their sharpest annual rate in 18 years and retail sales slumped. House prices fell 1.9 per cent during [...]
Hargreaves: UK economy to shrink for 18 months August 28, 2008 The recession in the UK could last up to 18 months, chief executive of Bristol-based fund manager Hargreaves Lansdown warned yesterday. Peter Hargreaves, the cofounder of the firm, said that he expects the FTSE 100 index to fall below the 5,000 mark and that there could be up to six quarters of negative growth, worse [...]
Home loans plummet August 27, 2008 Deals for new houses remained close to a record low last month, with approvals for mortgages 65 per cent lower than a year ago. Mortgage approvals totalled 22,448 last month, according to the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), just above June’s series low of 22,369 but almost 12,000 below the average of the past six months. [...]
Pound slumps as recession fears mount August 27, 2008 Prospect of interest rate cuts pushes sterling and the euro down as the greenback surges Growing recession fears and expectations of interest rate cuts sent the pound tumbling to a two year low against the dollar yesterday. Markets are now pricing in a 75 basis point cut in interest rates over the next 12 months, [...]
Bet on inflation to beat the downturn August 26, 2008 The market climate has created just the right conditions to make a mint, says Katie Hope It’s pretty grim out there at the moment. Food and fuel prices are rising at the fastest rate on record, contributing to soaring inflation. Even Bank of England governor Mervyn King, who is charged with keeping inflation at around [...]
The Olympic games are over – but Asia is still where the growth is to be found August 26, 2008 It was Aztec Camera who once sang “Summer in the City and the air is still”. I don’t know about the air, but the equity markets have been relatively quiet over the last week, except for a Warren Buffett induced bounce on Friday. Thank goodness – I don’t think any of us needed another August [...]
Turmoil is as bad as the 70s, warns deputy governor August 26, 2008 The current financial downturn is at least as bad as the 1970s, according to the Bank of England’s new deputy governor who has warned that there is no end in sight to the downturn. In an interview with the BBC, economist Charlie Bean, who took over as deputy governor earlier this year, said the current [...]
Eurozone fall raises global slump fears August 15, 2008 Fears of a global recession heightened yesterday as the eurozone economy recorded its first contraction since the single currency was introduced ten years ago. In the three months to June, gross domestic product (GDP) in the 15-country region fell by 0.2 per cent, according to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office. The contraction marks a [...]
It’s chilly in the summer air August 14, 2008 It could just be the weather, but it was a decidedly grumpy Bank of England governor who chaired the central bank’s quarterly inflation report yesterday. Looking thin-lipped and put-upon, Mervyn King gave an impassioned explanation of why it was not his or the Bank’s fault that inflation is high, and rising. Not since Pontius Pilot [...]