UK economy receives hefty growth upgrade from IMF October 22, 2024 The international fiscal watchdog now expects the UK to grow 1.1 per cent in 2024, up from a previous forecast of 0.7 per cent.
Borrowing figures show Reeves is in a fiscal bind ahead of Budget October 22, 2024 The latest figures showed that borrowing in September exceeded expectations yet again, driven by higher government spending.
It’s hard work working out what ‘working people’ means October 22, 2024 Politicians do like to lump people together. In recent years we’ve had the squeezed middle, the just-about-managing, hard working families and (who could forget?) Nick Clegg’s “alarm clock Britain.” To this list of amorphous jargon we must now add “working people.” Labour figures have been leaning on the phrase for months, not least as part [...]
Bank of England to cut interest rates to 2.75 per cent, Goldman predicts October 21, 2024 The US investment bank argued that Bank Rate would fall to as low as 2.75 per cent by November next year, whereas it had previously expected the terminal rate to be three per cent.
‘Highly damaging’: Capital gains hike would make UK even less competitive October 21, 2024 Lifting capital gains tax (CGT) would damage the competitiveness of the UK’s already poor tax regime, new analysis suggests. Research by the Tax Foundation suggests that the UK’s tax regime ranked at 30th out of 38 OECD countries in terms of competitiveness, up one place due to the introduction of the full-expensing policy last year. [...]
Labour must pull back from the brink and support the UK’s founders October 21, 2024 With half term holidays upon us, Portugal is a safe bet for a bit of winter sun. The forecast for Lisbon this week is 24 degrees and sunny, whereas London is set to be much cooler with rain sweeping in by Friday. Things may get even gloomier when the Chancellor unveils her Budget next week. [...]
Rachel Reeves could borrow £80bn over next five years, lenders say October 20, 2024 Rachel Reeves could borrow an extra £80bn to fund the government's ambitious spending plans for infrastructure and green energy, according to lenders.
Why do economists think public investment is good for growth? October 19, 2024 As the Budget approaches it seems clear that the government is preparing to ramp up public investment.
Inflation, interest rates and tax: What happened in the economy this week? October 18, 2024 The health of the UK economy is attracting more and more attention as the Budget draws nearer, and there was plenty for commentators to digest this week. Here’s a brief recap: What to make of this week’s news? First, the danger of inflationary persistence seems to be diminishing, with noticeable progress on both wage growth [...]
Monthly UK insolvencies remain stubbornly high ahead of Budget October 18, 2024 The release noted that monthly insolvency numbers so far in 2024 have been similar to 2023, which saw the highest annual number of insolvencies since 1993.