The EU’s maddening, opaque, confusing and illogical import tariffs must be scrapped October 18, 2016 As you sit down to read City A.M. today over a perfectly smooth coffee from one of London’s ubiquitous coffee shops, you’re probably well aware that we don’t grow coffee in this country, never will and don’t care either. So why does coffee need seven different types of import tariffs set by the EU? Today we [...]
No, Nick Clegg: A true liberal knows Brexit should slash UK food prices October 17, 2016 So Brexit means more expensive breakfast! Or so Nick Clegg believes. Hanging onto the coattails of last week’s Unilever-Tesco row over who would bear the cost of a falling pound raising food import prices (so-called Marmite-gate), the former Deputy Prime Minister now warns us that milk and cheese will be more expensive as a result [...]
Sterling steady as rift opens between Philip Hammond and hard Brexiters October 17, 2016 The weekend may have brought some welcome respite for currency traders after a frantic few weeks of selling and shorting, but the break still hasn't done sterling any good. It's as-you-were on the money markets today with the pound falling shy of $1.22 against the US dollar and €1.11 against the single currency. At lunchtime one pound [...]
Autumn Statement 2016: Could higher borrowing costs upset Philip Hammond’s plans for an infrastructure spending spree? October 17, 2016 Interest rates for the UK government are rising at one of their fastest rates in nearly two decades as chancellor Philip Hammond prepares to unleash a multi-billion pound spending spree in his first Autumn Statement in five weeks' time. Borrowing costs for Hammond, as measured by the yield on the benchmark 10-year government bond, have surged in [...]
Markets riding high for now, but vulnerable to “small trigger”, warns Citi October 17, 2016 Equity markets could be a “small trigger” away from crashing down from current near-high levels, a note from Citigroup has warned today. Researchers argued that the world is currently not an uncertain place, but that with certainty comes complacency, “and with complacency comes risk”. Read more: Will the pound's weakness continue to drive the FTSE 100? [...]
Eyes on Draghi as Eurozone inflation hits two year high October 17, 2016 Inflation across the Eurozone hit a two-year high in September in more good news for Mario Draghi in his war with stagnant prices and sclerotic growth. Prices rose by 0.4 per cent over the 12 months to September, Eurostat said this morning, as measured on the consumer prices index (CPI). That was in line with [...]
EY Item Club: UK economy is surprisingly resilient – but faces a “prolonged period of weaker growth” October 17, 2016 The British economy will be hit by a "prolonged period of weaker growth" as the impact of the EU referendum begins to be felt – but will continue to be resilient, an influential forecaster has predicted. The EY Item Club, which uses the same forecasting model as the Treasury, said GDP growth will hit 1.9 [...]
Ben Broadbent: Pound fall has been a “shock absorber” October 17, 2016 The decline in sterling after the UK voted to leave the European Union has acted as a shock absorber for the economy, according to Bank of England deputy governor Ben Broadbent. "Having a flexible currency is an extremely important thing, especially in an environment when your economy faces shocks that are different from your trading [...]
Why Donald Trump should be closely watching the Mexican peso October 17, 2016 As the odds of a Donald Trump victory lengthened last week, few will have welcomed the news as much as Mexico. The Mexican peso, which fell by 12 per cent in the first nine months of this year, has bounced back as market fears of a Trump win calmed. “The peso has become a bellwether [...]
Downing Street plays down talk of Mark Carney tension October 17, 2016 Downing Street appears keen to play down perceived tension between the Prime Minister and governor of the Bank of England, with allies saying he is "highly regarded". The Bank’s Mark Carney said in a speech on Friday that he would not be told what to do by politicians, adding: Read more: May you leave us [...]