Why a Bank of England interest rate cut looks increasingly likely January 15, 2020 Just a week ago, investors rated the chances that the Bank of England would cut interest rates at about five per cent. Today, they think there is a 60 per cent chance that the main rate will be lowered from 0.75 per cent, according to CME Group’s tool which analyses futures prices. So what has [...]
Expectations of BoE rate cut rise after UK inflation falls to three-year low January 15, 2020 Sterling fell on Wednesday after data showed UK inflation unexpectedly slipped to a three-year low during December, ramping up expectations that the Bank of England (BoE) will cut interest rates later this month. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.3 per cent last month compared to a year earlier — the weakest level since November [...]
Bank of England policymaker maintains interest rate cut view January 15, 2020 Bank of England (BoE) policymaker Michael Saunders has said he is sticking to his view that interest rates should be cut because of weaknesses in the UK’s labour market and wider economy. “It probably will be appropriate to maintain an expansionary monetary policy stance and possibly to cut rates further, in order to reduce risks [...]
A tip for Dominic Cummings: Don’t hire anyone who fails to grasp the power of incentives January 15, 2020 The job advert issued by Dominic Cummings for people to work in government has attracted a wide range of comments. One particular focus has been on the sorts of skills he is looking for. Computer science, forecasting, artificial intelligence, causality theory — all these topics excite his interest. Cummings advocates a small selection of scientific [...]
Q&A: Why would cutting air passenger duty help Flybe – and how is it damaging? January 14, 2020 In a bid to save regional airline Flybe, chancellor Sajid Javid is meeting officials from the business and transport departments today. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already shown he is against conventional bailouts for struggling companies – as he showed when he decided against keep Thomas Cook afloat in September. But one option still on [...]
Botswana and Zimbabwe typify Africa’s diverse capital market challenges January 14, 2020 | City Talk CFA Institute has examined Africa’s 10 largest capital markets in a major report compiled by Heidi Raubenheimer, CFA, our senior director for journal publications. Here we highlight key developments in Botswana and Zimbabwe. Botswana: mining-dominated exchange seeking to innovate Botswana is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. But the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) has [...]
UK GDP: Pound slips on unexpectedly weak growth figures January 13, 2020 Sterling has slipped following news that the economy shrank unexpectedly in November, extending earlier losses against the dollar. The UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) contracted 0.3 per cent during the month as the manufacturing and production sectors declined more than expected. The figure was expected to be flat. Read more: Sterling sinks below $1.30 as [...]
Sterling sinks below $1.30 as hints of interest rate cut grow January 13, 2020 Sterling has fallen below $1.30 as traders expect the Bank of England to slash interest rates if the UK economy underperforms. The pound tumbled in early trading, sinking 0.5 per cent from $1.3044 to $1.2996 this morning before the release of UK GDP data. Read more: Carney rate cut comment sends pound crashing to two-week [...]
Increasing capital: London economy pulls away from rest of UK in December January 13, 2020 London’s economic performance was “head and shoulders” above the rest of the country in December, survey data has shown, while the capital’s businesses were cheered by the emergence of some political certainty. London was the only British region where output grew in December, with firms hiring at the fastest rate since July, the data from [...]
Almost half of UK firms predict 2020 recession January 13, 2020 Just less than half of UK firms think the country will go into recession this year, a new survey has shown, despite evidence of a rise in business confidence following December’s General Election. British firms cited increased geopolitical tensions such as trade tariffs, Brexit and regional instability as the number one risk to businesses in [...]