Exclusive: Rishi Sunak plans shake-up of worker ownership schemes June 4, 2023 Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are drawing up plans to revamp schemes designed to hand workers a stake in their employers, City A.M. can reveal. The Treasury will today ask businesses for their view on the effectiveness of government-sponsored programmes that steer staff toward taking stakes in their employer by offering financial incentives. The Prime [...]
‘Can’t come soon enough’: Will Sunak follow through on 2p tax cut reports? June 4, 2023 Rishi Sunak’s mooted plans to reduce the tax burden from a seven-decade high with a 2p cut in income tax ahead of the next election have been welcomed by Tory campaigners. Reports surfaced in the Sunday Telegraph that the PM – an ex-City banker – is keen to cut charges in order to incentivise work [...]
House prices to stutter after Bank of England interest rate hikes June 4, 2023 House price growth is poised to stutter, new figures out this week are expected to show, as prospective homeowners are gradually priced out of the market by the Bank of England’s successive interest rate rises.
Pound records strong week as London markets expects Bank to hike rates further June 2, 2023 The pound has recorded its strongest week against the dollar in half a year as investors expect the Bank of England to keep hiking rates after the Fed has paused. Across the week, the pound gained more than 1.5 per cent against the dollar to trade at over $1.2530 on Friday afternoon. The pound performed [...]
Cost of insurance against UK debt default has more than doubled over last year June 2, 2023 The cost of insuring the UK’s debt against default has more than doubled in the past year, as rising rates, increased borrowing and a deteriorating economic environment spooked investors. According to exclusive data from reinsurance firm Chaucer, the cost of a credit default swap (CDS) on the UK’s debt has increased 131 per cent. A [...]
FTSE 100 close: London index claws back losses as pound and oil prices soar June 1, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 clawed back losses today after posting its worst month since last summer in May, led higher by mining giants regaining ground following yesterday’s sharp losses. The capital’s premier index climbed 0.59 per cent to 7,490.28 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the [...]
Record £9bn pumped into ISAs as Brits capitalise on higher interest rates June 1, 2023 Brits are yanking cash out of high street savings accounts and piling it into products that tie up their money for a longer period in exchange for a better interest rate, official figures out today show. Savers dropped £3.6bn into banks and building societies in April, nearly all of which went into fixed savings accounts [...]
Euro inflation slumps faster than expected to 6.1 per cent leaving UK further afield June 1, 2023 Inflation in Europe is falling much faster than expected, further marking Britain out as suffering the toughest price pressures in the developed world. The rate of price increases in the 20 countries using the euro dropped to 6.1 per cent last month, down from seven per cent in the previous month, according to eurostat. That [...]
Recession uncertainty arrests UK business confidence upward march June 1, 2023 Uncertainty about whether the UK economy will tip into a recession caused by sky high inflation and the Bank of England hiking interest rates aggressively to tame it is keeping businesses grounded, a new survey out today shows. A five straight month upward rise in optimism among leaders of Britain’s biggest firms was arrested in [...]
FTSE 100 close: Softening China economy hits London index as WH Smith and B&M soar May 31, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 was dragged lower today by softer than expected data from China signalling the world’s second largest economy is on the wane. The capital’s premier index slid 0.98 per cent to 7,448.01 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, dropped 0.45 [...]