Budget 2020: Rishi Sunak gives economy £30bn boost amid coronavirus outbreak March 11, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £30bn stimulus package to support the UK economy through the coronavirus outbreak in the biggest spending spree in almost 30 years. Sunak – who was made chancellor last month – said it was one of the most comprehensive responses to the outbreak by any government. The plan earmarks £12bn [...]
UK budget watchdog: Rishi Sunak’s spending spree biggest since 1992 March 11, 2020 The UK’s budget watchdog has called chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spending announcements the “largest budget giveaway since 1992” which will add more than £100bn to the public debt by 2024. In the government’s first Budget since the Conservatives’ landslide election victory in December, chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £30bn stimulus package to support the economy through [...]
How should investors act in a crisis? March 11, 2020 | City Talk With markets reeling from the effects of coronavirus, Schroders’ Group CIO, Johanna Kyrklund, highlights what investors should focus on. Coronavirus is the latest threat to market harmony that once again poses a timeless question: how should investors act in a crisis? Whether you’re a fund manager, responsible for billions of pounds of other people’s money, [...]
Budget 2020: Chancellor dodges fiscal rule change as borrowing rises March 11, 2020 UK chancellor Rishi Sunak has deferred a decision over changes to Britain’s spending rules, saying he will consult experts and report back in the autumn. The decision came as the chancellor announced the UK budget deficit would rise to 2.4 per cent of GDP in the 2020-21 financial year, up from 2.1 per cent this [...]
German economists call for more spending to tackle coronavirus March 11, 2020 Leading German economists have called on Angela Merkel’s government to increase spending and defer taxes to tackle the economic fallout from coronavirus. Germany agreed a package of measures on Sunday night that aim to help companies struggling with disruption to supply and demand and include €12.4bn (£10.9bn) in state investment. In a letter to Chancellor [...]
If we want cutting-edge R&D, we must rethink our attitude to failure March 11, 2020 A likely centre-piece of today’s Budget will be a new agency to fund high-risk, high-reward scientific research. Brainchild of the Prime Minister’s chief special adviser Dominic Cummings, the Advanced Research Projects Agency (Arpa) is to be modelled after similar bodies in the US — most notably Darpa which has focused on defence related research. Darpa [...]
Rate cut reaction: Businesses welcome Bank of England emergency stimulus March 11, 2020 UK businesses, banks and academics have welcomed the Bank of England’s emergency interest rate cut and raft of other measures to support the economy as it slows amid the coronavirus outbreak. The Bank slashed rates to 0.25 per cent – the joint-lowest on record – at an emergency meeting this morning. It also offered banks [...]
Coronavirus: City recruiter braced for Square Mile hiring ‘to fall off a cliff’ March 11, 2020 Top City recruiter Morgan McKinley yesterday said hiring in the Square Mile could grind to a halt if the coronavirus outbreak causes more businesses to close offices and make staff work from home. Already financial services recruiters are noticing an increase in requests to reschedule face-to-face interviews between clients and candidates to be over telephone [...]
UK economy posted zero growth even before coronavirus March 11, 2020 The UK economy flatlined in January, data has shown, as industrial production contracted and the services sector struggled even before coronavirus spread in Britain. The zero growth figure was below analysts’ expectations of a 0.2 per cent expansion, and shows that the pick-up in confidence after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s December election win failed to [...]
Budget 2020: How Rishi Sunak will tackle coronavirus and hike spending March 11, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak is set to unveil the 2020 Budget today after the Bank of England’s shock move to slash UK interest rates. Just four weeks into the job, Sunak has spent the last 27 days planning to hike public spending. Record investment would see the government mark the end of austerity. But he is [...]