Government must ‘level up’ foreign investment across Britain, urges select committee September 23, 2021 An influential commons select committee has criticised the government for failing to map out its plan for spreading foreign investment more evenly across the UK to achieve its “levelling up agenda”. The International Trade Committee (ITC) slammed the government in a report published today for promoting foreign investment’s role in boosting economic prosperity in forgotten [...]
Cloudy outlook to prompt MPC to hold fire on rates and QE September 23, 2021 A slowing economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis, sharp energy price rises and tax hikes squeezing Brits’ household incomes are likely to prompt the Bank of England’s committee of rate setters to err on the side of caution today. The Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC) will announce its latest decision on rates and the fate [...]
US Fed to rein in bond buying soon but keeps rates steady September 22, 2021 The US Federal Reserve held rates at record lows today, but did formally recognise it will likely rein in bond buying this year. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) kept rates unmoved at 0-0.25 per cent, but said if the economy continues on a positive trajectory, it “judges that a moderation in the pace of [...]
Debt payment by Evergrande eases market jitters over messy default September 22, 2021 Evergrande said today it will make a payment due on a domestic bond, easing jitters over a messy default, for a little while at least. Watch the full report.
Volatile equity market swells state-owned bank’s balance sheet September 22, 2021 A strong performing equity market amid pandemic-induced volatitlity swelled the state-owned development bank’s balance sheet. The British Business Bank (BBB) extended £89bn of loans to UK businesses last year, up £80bn from last year, as businesses scrambled for credit during the pandemic. The BBB extended just £8bn in loans before the pandemic, highlighting the scale [...]
‘Quality losses’ matter more to investors than ‘quality gains’ September 21, 2021 | City Talk People dislike losses more than they like gains. Known as loss aversion, this phenomenon, or behavioural bias, serves as a cornerstone of prospect theory, developed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky more than 40 years ago. A forthcoming paper, which I co-authored with Didem Kurt, Koen Pauwels and Shuba Srinivasan, applies this theory to product [...]
British businesses return £300m in furlough cash as spectre of Covid recedes September 21, 2021 UK businesses returned £300m in furlough cash, triggered by the spectre of Covid-19 over the British economy receding, according to official figures released today. The repayment now takes the total amount of money returned to the public coffers to £1.3bn since July last year, the Treasury said. Rishi Sunak, chancellor, said: “This Government stepped in [...]
OECD: UK muscles out G7 to top economic growth rankings September 21, 2021 The UK economy will grow the fastest among the group of the world’s richest countries, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD thinks the UK economy will expand 6.7 per cent in 2021, the highest rate of growth among the G7. The UK’s leading growth rate has been driven by [...]
National Insurance rise may ‘choke off’ investment and recruitment, business leaders warn September 20, 2021 Manufacturers are reporting an increase in business growth but warn the planned rise in National Insurance threatens to “choke off” investment and recruitment. Domestic and export orders have increased in recent months with increased optimism for the year ahead, according to manufacturers’ organisation Make UK. Manufacturing growth is now forecast to be 7.1 per cent [...]
Unease about economic outlook grows as rising prices fuel stagflation concerns September 20, 2021 The last few weeks has seen equity markets struggle to make gains of any significant size, and all the while concerns have been rising about a number of different factors. The lack of a clear narrative, whether it be positive or negative, has seen markets churn in both directions since July, with any number of [...]