Sunak’s tough choices: a sobering assessment November 25, 2020 Rishi Sunak’s spending review was a sobering assessment of not only the challenges facing the UK economy, but also the enormous economic damage created by the pandemic and the numerous lockdowns around the country, with the budget deficit for 2020 expected to come in at £394bn. The Chancellor said that the UK economy was likely [...]
UK borrowing to hit record £394bn as economy shrinks 11.3 per cent November 25, 2020 Government borrowing is set to soar to a peacetime record of £394bn this year while the economy will contract at the fastest pace since the 1700s thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, according to bleak predictions from the UK’s budget watchdog. The figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) show that unemployment is expected to [...]
Spending review live: Sunak pledges cash for city centres and transport but aid and public sector pay cut November 25, 2020 Spending review live: Sunak pledges cash for city centres and transport but aid and public sector pay cut
HMRC: 2.7m people still on furlough at end of September November 25, 2020 Around 2.7m people were still on furlough in the UK at the end of September, HMRC has estimated, as the UK’s incomplete economic recovery was knocked back by rising coronavirus cases. HMRC said the arts, recreation and entertainment sector had the highest proportion of workers on furlough, at 23 per cent. Food and accommodation was [...]
JD Health set for $3.5bn IPO in biggest Hong Kong launch of the year November 25, 2020 Chinese healthcare giant JD Health is set for a $3.5bn (£2.6bn) IPO in Hong Kong next month, in what would be the city’s biggest listing this year. JD Health is China’s largest healthcare platform by revenue, bringing in $1.6bn last year, and now has more than 70m active users. It is a subsidiary of Chinese [...]
FTSE 100 edges higher amid vaccine hopes and Biden picks November 25, 2020 The FTSE 100 rose for the second day as markets continued to be buoyed by positive vaccine news, president-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet picks, and stronger-than-expected US economic data. The FTSE rose 0.1 per cent in early trading, hitting 6,441 points. Its little brother, the FTSE 250, fell 0.5 per cent however. Market optimism yesterday sent [...]
Before the bell: Quiet start for Europe as all eyes are on US data November 25, 2020 It was another bullish day for global stock markets yesterday as sentiment was lifted by the vaccine hopes as well as the prospect of President Trump departing from his role in January in a calm and measured manner. The update on Monday from AstraZeneca-Oxford University that its potential Covid-19 vaccine has made great progress in [...]
UK capital raising hits decade-high amid coronavirus crisis November 25, 2020 The coronavirus pandemic has driven UK companies to raise the most money on public markets in a decade, with firms scrambling for cash returning to traditional fundraising methods, analysis shared exclusively with City A.M. has shown. Listed companies have raised more than £26bn this year from London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) main and AIM markets, analysis [...]
DEBATE: Should Rishi Sunak scrap the RPI inflation measure in today’s Spending Review? November 25, 2020 Should Rishi Sunak scrap the Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation measure in today’s Spending Review? Angus Hanton, co-founder of the Intergenerational Foundation, says YES. We need to say RIP to RPI. Why? Because the use of the Retail Prices Index (RPI) is based on a flawed methodology — one which disproportionately impacts younger generations. From [...]
Want people to get the Covid vaccine? Pay them November 25, 2020 The vaccines seem to be coming thick and fast. The task now is to ensure that enough people get them to keep the virus under control. The first issue is one of logistics. The track record of the UK’s health bureaucracy during the crisis has not been good. But the NHS does have experience of [...]