CBI: Decline in UK manufacturing slowed in October but activity still weak October 22, 2020 UK manufacturing activity continued to decline in the three months October but fell at their slowest pace since March despite a resurgence in coronavirus cases, a new survey showed. Output dropped in 10 of the 17 manufacturing sub-sectors monitored by the CBI’s industrial trends survey, with the aerospace sector leading the drop as the pandemic [...]
JP Morgan strategists: Markets desperate for more stimulus at US election October 22, 2020 The markets want a decisive outcome from the 3 November US presidential election that will lead to big near-term fiscal stimulus, which the country’s economy “really needs”, strategists at JP Morgan Asset Management have said. Karen Ward, the London-based firm’s chief market strategist for Europe, said investors were now seeing the election in a “completely [...]
FCA says 12 million people in UK will struggle to pay bills October 22, 2020 Some 12 million people in Britain are likely to struggle with bills or loan repayments amid the continued economic disruption triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said. A survey by the watchdog found that 12 million people in the UK had low financial resilience, and that two million of those people [...]
BoE deputy says the ‘time is not right’ for negative interest rates October 21, 2020 High levels of economic uncertainty and a bruised banking system mean now is not the time to experiment with negative interest rates, a deputy governor of the Bank of England has said. Sir Dave Ramsden today struck a more cautious tone on the novel monetary policy than his colleague Gertjan Vlieghe did yesterday. Vlieghe said [...]
UK public borrowing unexpectedly picks up to hit record £209bn this year October 21, 2020 UK government borrowing rose unexpectedly in September, pushing the budget deficit to a new record high of just under £210bn and the total debt pile to its biggest level as a proportion of GDP since 1960. The government borrowed £36.1bn last month, according to the Office for National Statistics’s (ONS) best estimate. That comfortably beat [...]
UK investors most downbeat in world on own economy October 21, 2020 UK investors are more downbeat about the short-term prospects for their own economy than their global peers, according to new research. Some 43 per cent of UK investors surveyed by UBS in the third quarter said they were optimistic about their own region’s economy over the next 12 months. While the figure represents a three [...]
UK inflation climbs to 0.5 per cent after Eat Out to Help Out scheme ends October 21, 2020 UK inflation climbed to 0.5 per cent last month as restaurants and cafes hiked their prices following the end of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. The headline rate of inflation on the ONS consumer price index (CPI), which tracks the prices of goods and services, came in at 0.5 per cent in September, [...]
Exclusive: London restaurant spend topped 2019 before new restrictions October 21, 2020 Spending at restaurants, pubs and bars in London climbed above 2019 levels for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic before new restrictions were put in place, data provided exclusively to City A.M has shown. Food and beverage spending was 1.7 per cent higher in September than a year earlier, according to Fable Data, which [...]
The government must take back control of the Covid narrative October 21, 2020 The word “narrative” is usually seen as being a posh way of saying “story”. But the idea of narratives is one which is gaining traction in economics. Last year, for example, Nobel laureate Robert Shiller of Yale published a book entitled “Narrative Economics”. He argued that it is the perception of events and the stories [...]
EU sees record demand for social bonds as it ramps up borrowing October 20, 2020 The European Union received a record level of demand for bonds it is selling to support its recovery from coronavirus, in a positive sign for the bloc as it plans to massively ramp up issuance. The EU attracted bids of more than €233bn (£213bn) for the €17bn it sought to raise to fund its Sure [...]