World’s biggest firms to borrow $1 trillion amid coronavirus crash July 13, 2020 The world’s biggest companies are set to borrow as much as $1 trillion (£790bn) this year as they try to weather the coronavirus crisis, according to one of the City’s biggest asset managers. The world’s 900 biggest companies borrowed an additional $384bn between January and May by issuing bonds as they scrambled to strengthen their [...]
Liberal Democrats secure coronavirus briefing with Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey July 12, 2020 Liberal Democrat MPs will get a briefing from Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey on Thursday in order to get a more “realistic” view of the British economy. The closed door meeting will give the party’s 11 MPs a chance to quiz the Bank of England boss about the UK’s economic recovery prospects and the [...]
UK government bond yields hit record low July 10, 2020 Short-dated UK government bond yields hit new lows today as unprecedented interventions from the Bank of England combined with economic uncertainty to boost the gilt market. The yield – which moves inversely to price – on the 2-year bond or gilt dropped to minus 0.122 per cent in morning trading before rebounding slightly. The yield [...]
Moody’s: UK to suffer worst crash of any big economy July 10, 2020 The UK will suffer the worst economic crash of any major economy this year, credit ratings agency Moody’s has predicted, with Brexit acting as a drag after the coronavirus crisis. Moody’s also said government debt as a share of national income will balloon by 24 percentage points compared to its 2019 level, two days after [...]
IEA raises oil demand forecast but warns of coronavirus threat July 10, 2020 The International Energy Agency (IEA) raised its 2020 oil demand forecast today but warned the ongoing spread of coronavirus could cause more disruption. The organisation raised its oil demand forecast to 92.1m barrels per day, 400,000 higher than its prediction last month as the virus-struck second quarter suffered a smaller decline than expected. But the [...]
London house prices flatline amid coronavirus uncertainty July 10, 2020 London house prices stayed flat in the second quarter of this year as coronavirus took an uneven toll on the property market across the country, according to new figures. The Halifax house price index on Tuesday showed that UK house prices fell for the fourth month in a row in June. That meant house prices [...]
Asian stocks drop as US coronavirus cases soar July 10, 2020 Asian stocks dipped this morning as several US states recorded soaring new coronavirus cases, sparking concern about economic recovery. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.74 per cent while Japanese stocks were down by 0.58 per cent. China’s Shanghai composite index dropped 1.5 per cent as state media discouraged retail investors from [...]
US sees 1.3m new jobless claims as coronavirus cases remain high July 9, 2020 More than 1.3m Americans made new jobless claims last week, the Labor Department said, keeping claims on a downward trajectory despite a spike in coronavirus cases in the US. Weekly jobless claims peaked at over 6m at the end of March and have been steadily declining since then. Last week’s figure was better than expected. [...]
Now’s not the time to worry about £500bn of borrowing, says IFS July 9, 2020 The UK’s budget deficit could balloon to £350bn this year and £150bn the next, but tax rises or spending cuts to tackle the public debt should not be implemented “any time soon,” the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said. However, IFS boss Paul Johnson warned that the chancellor was spending huge amounts and that [...]
Rishi Sunak says he will deal with debt levels once picture clears July 9, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said he will seek to reduce the huge budget deficit amassed during the coronavirus pandemic once the trajectory of the economy is “clearer”. Sunak, who yesterday pledged another £30bn worth of stimulus to fight the downturn, said it was difficult to strike the right balance between protecting the economy and the [...]