Mark Carney and George Osborne have been asked to reveal the details of their Brexit discussions May 24, 2016 Mark Carney has come under pressure to reveal details of his meetings with George Osborne in the run-up to the EU referendum. Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Conservative MP who sits on the Treasury Select Committee (TSC), asked the governor of the Bank of England whether he had notes, documents or minutes from his conversations with the [...]
EU referendum: Mark Carney clashes with Jacob Rees-Mogg over Brexit warning at Treasury Select Committee May 24, 2016 Mark Carney has defended the Bank of England's Brexit analysis as he faced accusations of becoming "politically involved" with the EU referendum in a tense hearing in front of MPs. Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg accused the chancellor of making unprecedented political interventions of the kind that would be impossible before a general election. Carney fired back in [...]
The deficit is even higher than we thought – again May 24, 2016 The UK's deficit is even higher than first thought, according to new figures released today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning. Public sector net borrowing – the amount of cash the government has to borrow to plug the difference between its income and outgoings – came in at £76bn for the 2015/16 [...]
These are the MPs Mark Carney will be up against at the Treasury Select Committee May 24, 2016 Nobody enjoys select committee hearings. Mark Carney, however, might be the exception to that rule. For a man who wears a pained expression every time he is probed on something Brexit-related, the governor of the Bank of England has really been stepping up the warnings of late. And it's set to make for a tasty showdown at [...]
Why Brexit won’t be a disaster (and as former City minister, I should know) May 24, 2016 As someone who spent 25 years working in finance, four years scrutinising the Treasury as a backbencher, and then two years first as City minister, now as Energy Minister, I've seen at first hand the economic cycles, the disasters and triumphs. These experiences tell me that the UK has an outstanding future as a free trading global [...]
Storm clouds are gathering – but Osborne hasn’t fixed the roof May 24, 2016 Uncertainty caused by a potential Brexit in the run up to June's crunch vote may be creating a smokescreen as far as the UK economy is concerned: the reality could be far worse than a few pre-referendum jitters. Recent economic data and surveys reveal some worrying signs about the economy's underlying performance. Profits at the UK’s [...]
The UK is among worst offenders for breaking EU’s budget rule, says German think tank May 23, 2016 The UK is one of the worst offenders for violating the EU’s budget deficit limit of three per cent of GDP, according to research by German think tank Ifo Institute. The report, that comes ahead of the release of the UK's public sector finances tomorrow, found that Britain recorded a total of nine violations since 1999 out of which two, [...]
Professor Philip Booth to step down from the Institute of Economic Affairs after 14 years May 23, 2016 Professor Philip Booth, the academic and research director at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is stepping down from his role after 14 years. He is leaving on 7 November to take up the role as director of research and public engagement at St Mary’s University, but will remain at the IEA for one day a [...]
US manufacturing output falls for first time since September 2009, throwing up questions around the possibility of a June interest rate hike May 23, 2016 The US manufacturing sector crept closer to stagnation in May, with the Markit Flash US manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) registering only slightly above the neutral 50.0 mark at 50.5. This was down from 50.8 in April and signalled only a marginal improvement in overall business conditions that was the weakest since the current upturn started in October 2009. [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open May 23, 2016 The latest round of consolidation in the drugs and chemicals industry is on after Germany Bayer made a $62bn bid for US seeds company Monsanto while European PMIs this morning have added to European economist concerns. Here's what you need to know before the open. US pre-market futures are mixed today. The S&P is down by 0.06 per [...]