Mounting inflation could trigger early end to BoE’s bond buying July 15, 2021 An external member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee has warned that surging inflation could prompt the central bank to end its bond buying programme early. Michael Saunders said in a speech on Thursday: “if activity and inflation indicators remain in line with recent trends… options might include curtailing the current asset purchase [...]
Inflation to soar to four per cent, warns BoE deputy governor July 15, 2021 The deputy governor of the Bank of England has warned that inflation could soar as high as four per cent, double the Bank’s target. Sir Dave Ramsden said in a speech on Wednesday that he “wouldn’t be surprised to see the whole inflation rate potentially rising as high as four per cent for a period [...]
UK banks expect a rush of defaults in coming months July 15, 2021 UK banks expect defaults to rise over the coming months as households struggle to service debt taken on to cope with the financial pressures of the Covid crisis, new figures released today reveal. According to the Bank of England’s latest Credit Conditions Survey, banks expect default rates on unsecured lending – or credit card lending [...]
China’s post-pandemic growth slows as government aims for more stable course July 15, 2021 China’s fast rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic has now slowed, according to official figures. The nation’s GDP for the second quarter of 2021 was up 7.9 per cent on the same period in 2020, falling short of economist’s forecasts of 8.1 per cent growth. It was less than half the growth seen in the first [...]
UK unemployment rate falls as lockdown easing drives up hiring July 15, 2021 The UK unemployment rate dropped in the latest quarter as the easing of coronavirus restrictions continues to spark a gradual economic recovery. Between March and May the unemployment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 4.8 per cent, while the employment rate was up 0.1 percentage point at 74.8 per cent. “As we approach the final [...]
US producer inflation surges to decade high July 14, 2021 US producer prices rose at their fastest pace in over a decade, fuelling concerns that inflation in the American economy could prove to be much stickier than first thought. The producer price index jumped 7.3 per cent annually in June, the biggest annual increase since November 2010, according to figures published by the US Labour [...]
Powell: US inflation likely to run hot in coming months July 14, 2021 US inflation is likely to continue to run hot in the coming months, according to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. US Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell said in remarks prepared for the US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee that price rises “will likely remain elevated in coming months”, but will “moderate”. Read more: [...]
Opec+ end deadlock over oil supply policy, says source July 14, 2021 The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have ended an impasse over Opec+ oil supply policy, sources said today. A deal was reached after the UAE’s baseline was increased to 3.65 million barrels per day from April 2022, the date when the current pact had been scheduled to end. The news was first reported by [...]
UK inflation hits 2.5 per cent in June July 14, 2021 UK inflation jumped again in June, outpacing economists’ expectations to accelerate away from the Bank of England’s target, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed this morning. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose to 2.5 per cent last month, its highest level since August 2018, up from 2.1 per cent in May. Analysts had forecast [...]
UK lenders urged to maintain support for businesses and households July 13, 2021 The watchdog of Britain’s financial system urged the UK’s largest lenders to maintain support for businesses and households today. The Financial Policy Committee said in a report published on Tuesday that it “continues to judge that it is in the collective interest of banks to support viable, productive businesses, rather than to seek to defend [...]