Labour will need more than a change of leader July 18, 2016 Attention politics junkies: do you feel robbed of a drawn-out party leadership election? Before Andrea Leadsom dropped out of the Tory race we were all set for a nine-week campaign. And then before it had even started, there was just one candidate remaining. If you’re wondering what political news to feast on this summer instead [...]
Despite the comfort from greater political stability, could sterling still reach parity against the US dollar? July 18, 2016 Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM, says Yes. Sterling received a pummelling in June, with prices crashing to 31-year lows against the dollar following the shock Brexit victory. Financial markets were rattled, and it was obvious that the Brexit outcome was severely underpriced, with even the bookkeepers being completely on the wrong side of the [...]
Beware May’s “industrial strategy”: Brexit Britain must be market-orientated July 18, 2016 It all seemed to be going so well. Our new Prime Minister had made some bold and imaginative appointments in assembling her first cabinet. This wasn’t a lazy half-hearted reshuffle, Theresa May was imposing her own stamp on government. Rather than going for continuity, she was ruthless in personnel changes. Initially, it started to look [...]
Bank of England MPC members want more than just lower interest rates July 17, 2016 One of the Bank of England's interest rate setters has said the looming cut to interest rates might not be enough to support the UK economy. Gertjan Vlieghe, the newest member of the nine-strong monetary policy committee (MPC), wrote in the Financial Times today that the UK is heading for a period of "lower growth and higher [...]
Bonza: Australia wants a trade deal with the UK post-Brexit July 17, 2016 Australia is seeking a free trade deal with the UK after the vote to leave the EU, it has been revealed. Newly installed Prime Minister Theresa May and her counterpart in Australia Malcolm Turnbull spoke over the phone on Saturday and Turnball indicatied a desire to negotiate a deal as soon as possible. "I have been very clear that [...]
Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane wants “muscular” easing to help economy post-Brexit vote July 15, 2016 The Bank of England's chief economist has said it must act "promptly as well as muscularly" to counteract the effects of Britain's vote to leave the European Union. In a speech delivered a week after the EU referendum, Andy Haldane said that Threadneedle Street should ease monetary policy to protect the economy and jobs. Read more: [...]
Eurozone pulls itself out of deflation in June – just July 15, 2016 The Eurozone definitely managed to heave itself out of deflation in June, its official statistics authority confirmed today – but only just. Figures published this morning by Eurostat confirmed inflation hit 0.1 per cent in June, up from minus 0.1 per cent in May. The figure was pushed up by inflation in restaurants and cafes, rents and tobacco [...]
Flood of stimulus underpins Chinese growth in second quarter July 15, 2016 Easy monetary policy helped the Chinese economy expand slightly faster than expected in the second quarter, data published today showed. Official data suggested gross domestic product grew 6.7 per cent between April and June from a year-ago, unchanged from the first quarter, and slightly ahead of market expectations of a dip to 6.6 per cent. Read more: The South [...]
Brexit: It’s early days, but UK business has been getting on with it July 15, 2016 It is less than three weeks since the British people voted to leave the EU. In that time, much of the media response has been verging on hysterical. The political establishment, City and even bookmakers simply did not see Leave coming. Figures who were top of their game a month ago have fallen on their swords: [...]
The Bank was right to hold rates – even a cut in August would be a shot in the dark July 15, 2016 Three weeks on from a dramatic referendum result, we have little hard information about how the economy is responding. There have been indications that business confidence and consumer confidence have been affected by the shock outcome. But there has also been a lot of political turbulence, and it is understandable that this has affected the consumer [...]