Did pumping cash into the economy fuel inflation surge? Bank top official says claim ‘not well supported by evidence’ April 25, 2023 Claims the Bank of England caused the worst inflation surge in the UK for more than 40 years by printing money are “not well supported by the evidence,” one of its top officials said today. Ben Broadbent, a deputy governor at the Bank, hit back at critics in a speech at Britain’s oldest economic think [...]
Jeremy Hunt handed £13bn windfall raising chance of tax cuts ahead of election April 25, 2023 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been handed a £13bn windfall from the UK public finances holding up better than expected, raising the chances of tax cuts ahead of the next general election, official figures out today reveal. Numbers from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning showed the UK borrowed around £139bn in the year [...]
Britain’s renters are the real victims of this inflation and interest rate crunch April 25, 2023 People doubtless would’ve gasped at headlines last week about UK interest rates being on course for five per cent. Such a path looked implausible in March when Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and Credit Suisse’s shotgun marriage to UBS sparked fears of a financial market meltdown. After those events, traders trimmed their expectations of how much more [...]
Nearly every UK business struggling to fill roles amid worker exodus April 25, 2023 Nearly every business in the UK is struggling to hire staff in a sign that the country’s slimmer workforce since the pandemic is pegging back growth, a new survey out last night indicated. Some 80 per cent of 5,000 firms surveyed by the lobby group the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said they ran into [...]
FTSE 100 close: Credit Suisse suffers £55bn outflow as BP and Shell claw back losses April 24, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 kicked off a new week in subdued style today, dragged lower by big industrial firms extending last week’s poor performance. The capital’s premier index slipped 0.02 per cent to 7,912.20 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, shed 0.22 per [...]
UK recession wobble sends FTSE profit warnings back to Covid-19 levels April 24, 2023 The UK’s flirtation with a recession over the last year or so has prompted a wave of the country’s top companies to warn shareholders to expect profits to miss forecasts, a new report out today shows. Profit warnings among UK-listed firms climbed to 75 in the first three months of this year, the highest level [...]
Recession jitters drive FTSE chiefs out of the top job April 24, 2023 Chiefs of the UK’s top companies have been exiting their roles at a doubly quick pace over the last year, driven by boards trying to insulate their firms from the economy being whacked by rising prices and interest rate hikes with a change in leadership, a new study out today shows. Some 38 chief executives [...]
Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy protection, begins liquidation sale April 23, 2023 Bed Bath & Beyond filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Sunday after the home goods retailer failed to secure funds to stay afloat, and has begun a liquidation sale. The home goods retailer, which shot to popularity in the 1990s as a go-to shopping destination for couples making wedding registries and planning for new babies, [...]
UK borrowing tipped to have jumped to £23bn in March but Hunt and Sunak are on course to hit OBR forecasts April 23, 2023 Britain is tipped to have borrowed nearly £23bn last month to help pay for capping energy bills at £2,500, according to City analysts’ consensus forecast. Fresh numbers out from the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday are expected to show the gap between what the government generates in revenue from taxes and spends on public [...]
UK economy in ‘early stages of recovery’ as families shrug off inflation and interest rate hikes April 21, 2023 Britain’s economy could be in the early stages of a recovery, with consumers holding up pretty well under the pressure of high inflation and interest rate increases, a closely watched survey out today indicates. Families’ outlook on how well the economy will perform over the coming year is improving, while confidence in their own personal [...]