OECD: UK should focus on unemployed until recovery established October 14, 2020 The UK should do more to help those who have lost their jobs during the coronavirus pandemic and wait to fix the hole in its public finances until the recovery is underway, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said. The UK’s economy is at “a critical juncture”, the organisation warned in an annual [...]
Think tanks warn Sunak not to hurt UK’s ‘tax competitiveness’ October 14, 2020 Free-market think tanks have warned the government not to raise taxes on companies and dividends to try to mend the hole in the public finances, arguing that it would be an act of “self-sabotage”. The UK budget deficit is set to hit £350bn this year, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank said yesterday. [...]
Heavy-handed Westminster diktats have eroded trust — now only localised Covid policy can restore it October 14, 2020 Last month, the official group of scientific advisers — SAGE — warned the government that only a quarter of those who need to self-isolate due to coronavirus symptoms were in fact doing so. This illustrates a concept which is of great practical importance: namely the conflict between individual and collective rationality. Consider Margaret Ferrier, an [...]
Rishi Sunak to urge debt relief for weaker global economies October 14, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak will today urge global governments to ease the debt burden on the poorest countries affected by coronavirus as he meets leaders to discuss cooperation. Sunak will discuss a global action plan for the months ahead with G20 counterparts today. He will then join an annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) [...]
Andrew Bailey says Bank of England ‘not there yet’ on negative interest rates October 13, 2020 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said the BoE is not yet in a position to decide whether it should cut interest rates in negative territory, as there is more work to be done on what effects they might have. It comes after the Bank sent a letter to lenders yesterday asking them about [...]
Cornish Lithium fundraise smashes £4m as Poldark spirit lives on October 13, 2020 A new lithium project in the south-west has attracted more than £4m in investment over the last 24 hours, smashing its target of a £1.5m raise. Cornish Lithium opened up to pre-registered investors yesterday and nearly doubled its original target within three hours. The firm, which is based near Redruth in England’s westernmost county, then [...]
WTO tells EU it can slap $4bn of tariffs on US over Boeing subsidies October 13, 2020 The EU has been given the go-ahead to slap tariffs on $4bn (£3.1bn) of US goods in the latest development in the subsidy saga involving Boeing and Airbus. It comes after the World Trade Organization (WTO) last year allowed Washington to tariff $7.5bn of EU goods over state support for European aeroplane manufacturer Airbus. The [...]
IMF: Covid cases and support cutbacks threaten global recovery October 13, 2020 The global economic recovery is under threat from the resurgence of coronavirus and governments withdrawing economic support too early, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned. IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said the crisis is “far from over” and will “likely leave scars”. She said the global economy’s total loss of output would could amount [...]
SSE sells energy from waste plants for £1bn October 13, 2020 SSE today announced that it would sell its stake in two energy from waste plants for £995m as it continues to raise money to invest in low-carbon projects. Shares in the FTSE 100 company rose 3.9 per cent in the morning’s trading. The divestment, which is expected to complete by the end of the year, [...]
UK taxes could rise by more than £40bn, says IFS October 13, 2020 The UK is set for years of higher debt and taxes as it recovers from the dual hit of the pandemic and Brexit, according to a leading think tank. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) published its annual Green Budget in association with investment bank Citi today, and warned that taxes will have to rise [...]