Virgin Media plans billion-pound broadband investment in “£8bn boost” to UK economy February 13, 2015 Virgin Media has unveiled major plans to invest in its broadband network which it says will benefit the UK economy by £8bn. The £3bn of investment will also create 6,000 jobs over the next five years, 1,000 of which will be apprenticeships, the Liberty Global-owned company has said. Virgin will increase by a third the number [...]
Bank of England’s Mark Carney: Interest rate cut is possible as UK heads toward deflation February 12, 2015 Bank of England governor Mark Carney revealed yesterday that interest rates could drop even further below their historic low of 0.5 per cent, as the collapse in global oil prices drags Britain towards deflation. In a mandatory letter to chancellor George Osborne, Carney said that if “global activity continues to disappoint, or if low inflation [...]
Bank of England inflation report: UK inflation rate could slide into negative February 12, 2015 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has warned UK inflation could slip into negative territory this spring, but he also upgraded the economy's growth forecasts on the belief it's most likely to be benign. Threadneedle Street warned it was "more likely than not that headline inflation would turn negative this year". In such a scenario, it would [...]
Sweden just cut its interest rates to negative and announced a bond-buying scheme February 12, 2015 The Swedish krona plunged 1.73 per cent to its lowest against the dollar in five years today, after the Riksbank – the world's oldest central bank – cut its key interest rate to -0.1 per cent. The cut, from 0.25 per cent, is an effort to combat a deflationary spiral in the country. Sweden's inflation [...]
Pound edges towards a seven-year high against the euro February 10, 2015 The pound rose as much as 0.5 per cent against the euro this morning, pushing it close to its highest since 2008. One euro now costs close to 74.1p, near the 74.3p it cost on Valentine's Day 2008. The rise followed encouraging data from the UK's manufacturing industry. Official data published this morning showed manufacturing [...]
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney: “No room for complacency” in global banking reform February 9, 2015 Bank of England governor Mark Carney has cautioned against slowing the pace of global banking reforms, saying the financial system is more resilient than during the financial crisis, but there's still "no room for complacency". Speaking in his role as chairman of the Financial Stability Board (FSB), a body which monitors the global financial system, [...]
Bank of England set to hint at an earlier rise in interest rates February 8, 2015 INTEREST rates could rise sooner than markets expect, economists predicted over the weekend, as the Bank of England prepares to update its growth forecasts on Thursday. Inflation could fall to zero in the coming months, pushing back expectations of an interest rate rise, and all nine members of the monetary policy committee last month voted [...]
Inflation report to give clues on rate hike date – London Report February 8, 2015 THE BANK of England’s quarterly inflation report is this week expected to offer an insight into whether historically-low interest rates will be increased this year or next. Howard Archer, of IHS Global Insight, said: “The Bank of England will obviously have to cut its near-term inflation forecasts sharply given that consumer price inflation fell sharply [...]
Here’s how UK businesses can protect themselves against a strengthening US dollar February 5, 2015 The US dollar's strength is surging against the pound and the euro – a trend that could cause problems for some UK businesses. As international confidence in the US economy intensifies, many investors have turned to the dollar as a much safer bet than its Asian or European counterparts, with China's growth slowing and [...]
Bank of England holds interest rates at record low of 0.5 per cent and keeps £375bn quantitative easing programme in February February 5, 2015 There are no surprises from the Bank of England, again. The central bank held its benchmark interest rate a record low of 0.5 per cent for the 71st month in a row. It also kept its quantitative easing programme steady at £375bn at the monetary policy committee's (MPC) February meeting. While the UK economy has [...]