Bank of England steps back from interest rate hike as inflation falls January 21, 2015 INTEREST rates are set to stay lower for longer, as senior policymakers at the Bank of England unanimously decided to keep rates on hold, the minutes of this month’s meeting showed yesterday. Slowing growth in the Eurozone combined with falling inflation in the UK is pushing a prospective rate hike further into the future. Previously, two members [...]
Eni’s chief executive Claudio Descalzi warns oil could jump to $200 January 21, 2015 Italian oil firm Eni has warned oil could jump to $200 per barrel within the next decade if the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) fails to cut production. Slumping oil prices are leading to under-investment in the oil industry, Claudio Descalzi, Eni's chief executive, said today at Davos. He said mismanagement by OPEC could prompt [...]
Bank of England minutes: Pound drops as MPC returns to agreement on interest rate rises January 21, 2015 The pound fell against both the euro and the dollar today, after Bank of England policymakers returned to agreement on the importance of keeping interest rates low. Minutes published this morning showed the Bank's monetary policy committee (MPC), which sets interest rates, voted unanimously against raising rates from their historic low of 0.5 per cent. [...]
German investors confident on economy despite hectic January January 20, 2015 INVESTOR sentiment in Germany has reached an 11-month high, new figures show. An indicator of economic sentiment jumped to 48.4 in January from 34.9 in December, according to figures released yesterday by German researchers Zew. The index now sits comfortably above its long-term average of 24.5. It has recovered from a 2014 trough of below [...]
Deloitte: Facebook added $6.6bn to the UK economy in 2014 January 20, 2015 Facebook added $227bn (£149bn) to the global economy in 2014, according to a Deloitte and Touche report commissioned by the social media giant. Although Facebook only generated revenue of $12bn (£7.9bn) in the financial year, the report calculates all the economic activity “enabled” by the social media platform. These include businesses with pages [...]
11 times The Sun’s Page Three girls showed how deeply they cared about the UK economy January 20, 2015 The end of an era, or good riddance? However you feel about Page Three, there's no arguing with the fact it's a British institution. But today came the news that after 45 years, The Sun has apparently decided to put an end to its traditional topless model slot. The news was revealed by sister title The [...]
2015 IMF growth forecast: UK pulling ahead but global economy downgraded January 19, 2015 The UK has managed to avoid a downgrade to its 2015 growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund. The IMF’s updated predictions released today also place the UK as the fastest economy in the G7 in 2014 with growth of 2.7 per cent. However, the UK is set to lose its “fastest G7 economy” crown [...]
Fall in oil prices provides boost for UK economy January 18, 2015 The UK economy is set to benefit from the collapse in oil prices, according to the most recent quarterly forecast from the EY-sponsored Item Club. The economic forecasting group has stated that the decline in oil and other commodity prices will provide a “shot in the spending arm” for UK consumers, who will have more [...]
Interest rates to remain at historic lows until 2016 amid falling oil price January 18, 2015 The collapsing price of oil could see interest rates remain at their historic lows until 2016, according to top economists. The UK is likely to grow at 2.9 per cent this year, say the EY Item Club in part thanks to lower oil prices. The group hiked their forecast by 0.5 per cent point since [...]
Swiss franc surges after central bank scraps currency ceiling and slashes interest rates January 15, 2015 The Swiss franc has surged against the euro after the central bank scrapped a currency "ceiling", and took interest rates even further into negative territory. The Swiss franc was up as much as 37 per cent against the euro before later paring gains. Swiss shares shed some 10 per cent after investors rushed into safe-haven [...]