The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is going big on its economic warnings April 14, 2016 The International Monetary Fund has been dishing out bitter pills all week from its spring conference taking place in Washington DC. Europe’s banks have been told they face a profitability crisis, countries around the world, including the UK, have had their growth forecasts slashed, and the Fund’s managing director Christine Lagarde has taken a generally [...]
Inflation slips back in the United States, but Federal Reserve still likely to raise rates in June April 14, 2016 US INFLATION slipped back in March as cheaper clothes and food helped to offset a jump in petrol prices, easing the immediate pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. The headline consumer prices index (CPI) came in at 0.9 per cent in the 12 months to March — down from a reading of [...]
BP shareholders reject chief exec’s £14m pay package April 14, 2016 BP shareholders have voted to reject chief executive Bob Dudley's 20 per cent pay rise at its general meeting today. Shareholder ire had been stoked because the proposed payout comes against a backdrop of shrinking profit margins and thousands of job cuts at the oil giant. However, today's vote is "advisory", meaning even a vote against will [...]
Boris Johnson delays public hearing over £800m Bishopsgate Goods Yard development after opposition to plans April 14, 2016 Boris Johnson has delayed a decision over £800m plans for a towering high-rise scheme in London's East End, which opponents have warned would "destroy the heart of Shoreditch". The Bishopsgate Goods Yard site, a joint venture between Hammerson and Ballymore, has faced fierce opposition from Hackney Council and campaign groups including More Light More Power on the grounds that [...]
Bank of England holds interest rates at 0.5 per cent and steps up its warnings on Brexit April 14, 2016 Brexit could cause a prolonged period of instability in the UK economy, dramatically reduce the value of the pound and weaken growth, the Bank of England has warned, as it voted unanimously to hold interest rates at their record low of 0.5 per cent for another month. The rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) made no [...]
Updated figures show the Eurozone isn’t in deflation after all as prices remained unchanged in March April 14, 2016 The Eurozone isn't in deflation after all, official statistics released this morning have shown. The final estimate for the consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation for the single currency bloc, released this morning, came in at zero per cent – meaning prices actually remained unchanged over the last 12 months Two weeks ago, Eurostat, the [...]
IEA: Oil oversupply will finally start drying up in the second half of 2016 April 14, 2016 The embattled oil market will start to rebalance in the second half of this year, as Opec's grand master plan to price out US shale gas producers starts to bear fruit. The International Energy Agency expects that the surplus will fall to 0.2m barrels per day (bpd) in the second half of this year, down from 1.5m [...]
UK house prices: Mortgage lending enjoys best first quarter in nine years despite March dip April 14, 2016 Mortgage lending enjoyed its best first quarter in nine years thanks to buy-to-let landlords rushing to beat April's stamp duty hike, according to new figures published this morning. An average of 71,710 house purchase loans were approved in the first three months of the year, the data from surveyors e.surv shows – making it the highest opening [...]
House prices: London’s first time buyers will need £106,000 salary to afford an average home by 2020, warns Shelter April 14, 2016 Londoners looking to buy their first home will need to earn over £100,000 a year by 2020, research by housing and homelessness charity Shelter has found. The study said this was an increase over the quarter on the £80,000 needed for a typical first time buyer’s mortgage today. On top of this, first-time buyers will also need an [...]
UK business optimism shattered by “potent combination” of global threats and fears of Brexit April 14, 2016 Confidence among Britain’s businesses slumped in the first quarter of the year, plummeting by the sharpest level anywhere in Europe, according to new research out today. A “potent combination of fragile financial markets, volatility in oil prices, concerns over terrorist attacks and regional issues including the prospect of a Brexit and the US presidential race” [...]