UK households gloomy about finances as coronavirus crisis hits home May 18, 2020 UK households were slightly more positive about their finances in May than in April, but the month still ranked as one of the most pessimistic since 2009. IHS Markit’s UK household finance index (HFI) – which measures households’ overall perceptions of financial wellbeing – recorded 37.8 in May, up slightly from April’s eight-and-a-half year low [...]
UK economy receives fresh warnings before Rishi Sunak addresses MPs May 18, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing to address MPs today following new dire predictions of the impact of coronavirus on the UK economy. Sunak is set to face questions over how the UK will pay for huge public borrowing currently propping up the economy. The Treasury boss extended his job retention scheme to October last week, [...]
Jay Powell: US economy could shrink 30 per cent over coronavirus May 18, 2020 Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell has warned the US economy could “easily” decline by 20 to 30 per cent over the coronavirus pandemic. The US central bank boss also warned the economic downturn could continue until late 2021, and there may be no recovery until scientists create a vaccine. Powell called on the Trump administration [...]
OBR chief rules out post-crisis ‘v-shaped’ economic recovery for UK May 17, 2020 The head of the government’s independent budget watch dog has said a quick, “v-shaped” economic recovery is very unlikely for the UK as it comes out of the Covid-19 lockdown. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) director Robert Chote said today that people should “expect a slower recovery than the v-shaped” recovery first predicted by [...]
US retail sales drop at record pace amid coronavirus shutdown May 15, 2020 US retail sales plunged at the quickest pace on record for the second month in a row in April, official figures have shown, as coronavirus containment measures caused shops to close and Americans to stay in their homes. The Commerce Department said sales dropped 16.4 per cent last month compared an 8.3 per cent drop [...]
Coronavirus sends Eurozone economy to worst quarter on record May 15, 2020 The Eurozone economy shrank at the fastest pace on record in the first three months of the year, official figures have shown, as coronavirus brought normal life to a halt. Euro area GDP plunged 3.8 per cent quarter on quarter in the first three months of the year, according to EU statistics body Eurostat. That [...]
When will the UK economy recover from coronavirus? May 15, 2020 The UK economy is set for its worst contraction since at least the Great Depression this year as the coronavirus lockdown brings activity to a halt. There’s little doubt about that. There is doubt about what comes next, however. Economists have made huge numbers of predictions, using an array of letters to describe the recovery. [...]
Coronavirus could cost global economy $8.8 trillion May 15, 2020 The global economy could haemorrhage between $5.8 trillion and $8.8 trillion (£4.7 trillion-£7.1trillion) this year depending on how long coronavirus containment measures last, the Asian Development Bank has said. In the worst-case scenario, that would be equivalent to almost 10 per cent of the world’s output. Economists say the world is going through its worst [...]
German economy shrinks at fastest pace since financial crisis May 15, 2020 The German economy shrank at its fastest pace since the financial crisis in the first quarter of the year, as the powerhouse of Europe was battered by the coronavirus pandemic. German GDP dropped 2.2 per cent in the first quarter compared to the final three months of 2019. It was the second largest drop since [...]
Bank of England ‘not contemplating’ negative interest rates, says governor Andrew Bailey May 14, 2020 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said Threadneedle Street is not considering cutting interest rates to below zero. The governor said that it would be unwise to rule anything out, “particularly in these circumstances,” in an online question and answer session with the Financial Times. Yet he said: “It is not something we are [...]