M&A cash: Uncertainty and reduced leverage capacity make it harder to finance takeovers October 12, 2021 One of China’s biggest property developers, Evergrande, has come under mounting pressure in recent weeks to repay investors and bond holders on the back of three missed payments on over $300bn of liabilities. This potential default has triggered fears across global markets that investors will not get their money back. It has also had an effect on [...]
Red hot jobs market strengthens BoE rate hike bets October 12, 2021 A rebound in the UK jobs market back to pre-pandemic health is strengthening bets on the Bank of England hiking interest rates this year. The number of payrolled employees climbed more than 200,000 over the last month, jumping to 29.2m in September, above its pre-pandemic level, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The [...]
Wednesday’s GDP figures will remind Brits of sunnier economic times October 12, 2021 The economic mood at the moment is not upbeat. Households are facing an acute cost of living crisis, businesses are warning of shortages at Christmas, inflation is likely to run hotter and for longer than the Bank of England initially expected. Doom and gloom. However, on Wednesday, positivity will be partly revived as the Office [...]
Live to fight another day: IMF managing director survives confidence vote despite damning China data rigging claims October 12, 2021 IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva lives to fight another day as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it still has “full confidence” in the Bulgarian economist in response to allegations that she pressured World Bank staff to change business rankings for China in an effort to placate Beijing. The IMF’s 24-member executive board said in [...]
Markets brace for Christmas BoE rate hike October 12, 2021 THE UK could be stung by an earlier than expected rate hike as the Bank of England moves to hose down runaway inflation. Investors kicked off the week yesterday by repositioning their bets toward a first rate increase since the onset of the Covid-19 crisis at the Bank’s last rate setting meeting of the year [...]
Today: UK unemployment set to fall as rate hike bets increase October 12, 2021 European markets got off to a mixed start yesterday, while US markets, after initially looking in good shape, rolled over into the close to finish on the lows of the day. While investors want to believe the narrative that stock markets can continue to move higher, this belief is bumping up against the reality of how [...]
Swelling NHS and social care costs will force Sunak to more than double new levy, warns IFS October 12, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak will have to more than double a levy on employers and employees to meet the cost of an-ever demanding health and social care system. Ongoing cost pressures generated by the UK’s ageing society are likely to force Sunak to hike the newly created health and social care levy to 3.15 per cent [...]
Looming cost of living crisis pinches Brits’ confidence in finances October 12, 2021 The spectre of inflation is acutely impacing Brits’ confidence in the health of their finances. Nine in 10 households are worried about their finances, found research by Barclaycard. Brits across the country are facing a severe cost of living crisis caused by soaring energy prices, wider inflation and looming tax hikes, which is weighing down [...]
Jenny Watson: New chair of UK accounting regulatory board wants to be a driver of change October 11, 2021 Jenny Watson CBE, newly appointed as the chair to the regulatory board of the UK body of chartered accountants, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), is a woman on a mission: the former chair of the Electoral Commission wants to be a driver of change. “We already know that there is much [...]
Nobel Prize in economics awarded to three economists October 11, 2021 The 2021 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics Science has been awarded to three economists for their innovative use of natural experiments to solve some of the field’s toughest problems. David Card, of the University of California, Berkeley, shared the prize with Joshua D. Angrist, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Guido W. Imbens, of Stanford [...]