BoE puts negative interest rates in its ‘toolbox’ for the first time August 6, 2020 The Bank of England has put negative interest rates in its “toolbox” of possible monetary policy measures for the first time, governor Andrew Bailey said today. However, Bailey cautioned that the Bank does not currently “have a plan to use them”. Read more: Bank of England says UK economy’s recovery will take longer than expected [...]
UK businesses grow at fastest rate in five years but employment drops August 5, 2020 The UK economy’s private sector rebounded at its fastest rate in five years in July, according to the final reading of a closely watched measure, as the government eased coronavirus restrictions. The IHS Markit/Cips composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) jumped to 57 in July from 47.7 in June. It was slightly lower than a “flash” [...]
Eurozone business activity grows at fastest pace in two years August 5, 2020 The Eurozone’s private sector grew at its fastest rate in over two years in July, according to survey data, with a key gauge of business activity improving slightly compared to an earlier estimate. The IHS Markit Eurozone composite purchasing managers’ index – which measures the health of the private economy – rose to 54.9 in [...]
The costs of lockdown can no longer be justified August 5, 2020 In an otherwise depressing week, two pieces of very good news emerged from India. In Mumbai, blood tests conducted by the city authorities on 6,936 randomly selected people found that some 40 per cent had coronavirus antibodies. Just 6,000 deaths have been reported so far in a city of 20 million. A similar exercise in [...]
BoA: Bank of England to cut interest rates to zero in November August 4, 2020 The BoE is likely to pursue a package of interest rate cuts and quantitative easing in November amid the pandemic and threat of a no-deal Brexit, according to the Bank of America. The Bank will reduce the rate to zero and could go negative if necessary, Bank of America economists predicted in a report today. [...]
Argentina strikes deal with creditors over $65bn debt in major breakthrough August 4, 2020 Argentina has reached a deal with its largest creditors to restructure $65bn (£50bn) in defaulted sovereign debt, in a major step forward in long-running talks. The South American country’s government hailed the breakthrough, saying in a statement that it will “grant Argentina significant debt relief”. Argentina’s economy has been battered in recent years by high [...]
Government-backed coronavirus lending tops £50bn August 4, 2020 Banks have now lent £50.7bn to companies through the various government-backed coronavirus loan schemes, official figures showed today. By far the biggest programme is the bounce back loans scheme (BBLS), which had seen banks lend out £34.34 to small businesses as of yesterday, the Treasury said. It comes with a 100 per cent government guarantee [...]
Working from home costs London hospitality sector £2.3bn, economists say August 3, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has caused £2.3bn of spending to be lost or displaced in shops, pubs and cafes near London employment hubs, according to new analysis by a think tank. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) also estimated that the capital will lose out on roughly £178m a month of spending compared to [...]
UK manufacturing output grows at quickest pace since 2017 August 3, 2020 UK manufacturing output grew at its fastest rate in almost three years in July as the sector continued to grow after it was all but shut down due to coronavirus in April, according to survey data. The IHS Markit/Cips UK manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a gauge of the health of the sector – [...]
Eurozone manufacturing sector returns to growth but worries remain August 3, 2020 The Eurozone manufacturing sector performed better than expected as it returned to growth in July as the currency bloc continued to recover from the spring’s coronavirus crash, survey data showed today. The IHS Markit Eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 51.8 in July from 47.4 in June. It was above a flash estimate [...]