New financial tax will fail to deliver, top think-tank warns April 22, 2012 A FINANCIAL transactions tax (FTT) will damage the City of London, hurt ordinary people and fail to bring any of the benefits its proponents claim, according to a report out today from a leading think-tank. The damning report from tax expert John Chown and published by the Centre for Policy Studies urges the British government [...]
Small business borrowing costs hit their highest in three years April 22, 2012 SMALL firms’ borrowing costs are at their highest level since late 2009, analysis out today shows, hitting companies that hope to expand. The average rate of interest paid on loans of under £1m rose to 3.92 per cent in February, up from 3.46 per cent six months earlier and a post-credit crunch low of 3.03 [...]
Call for better fiscal statistics April 22, 2012 PUBLIC trust in deficit reduction and faith in the fiscal process can only be improved with higher quality forecasts and a more long-term view of finances, a leading accountancy body claimed today. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) is calling for greater study of the impacts of an aging population on [...]
Dutch coalition could fall amid budget fight April 22, 2012 THE DUTCH government could fall today after the ruling coalition failed to come to an agreement on the budget over the weekend. Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that crucial talks on budget cuts had collapsed after his ally Geert Wilders refused to do a deal, and that new elections were inevitable. In the short term, [...]
IMF RAISES BAILOUT FUND April 22, 2012 GLOBAL finance chiefs, led by International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde, pressed Europe over the weekend to take advantage of newly increased financial buffers and make lasting reforms to tackle its debt crisis. The countries agreed to double the firepower of the IMF to $430bn (£266.6bn) to help contain Europe’s debt crisis.
Households set to suffer through 2012 under high inflation April 22, 2012 HOUSEHOLDS are being squeezed increasingly hard by rising prices and low wages, a new report warned today, while economists fear inflation will stay high throughout 2012. Spending on essentials rose at 6.2 per cent in the year to March – the fastest pace since the Lloyds spending power report began in 2010. At the same [...]
Britain likely to miss recession, but growth is slow say analysts April 22, 2012 BRITAIN seems likely to have avoided a return to recession in the first quarter of 2012, with economists predicting very slow economic growth to be revealed by official statisticians on Wednesday. The economy shrank 0.3 per cent in the final three months of 2011, and a second negative quarter would push the UK into a [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: HOW MUCH DID THE UK ECONOMY GROW IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR? April 22, 2012 HOWARD ARCHER IHS GLOBAL INSIGHT “We have pencilled in overall GDP growth of 0.2 per cent in the first quarter. Based on all of the data and survey evidence available so far for the first quarter, we get the impression that the economy picked up in January, suffered a dip in February but then improved [...]
Russian oligarch warns London of complacency April 22, 2012 IT is an unusual perspective, albeit one that Oleg Deripaska clearly passionately believes in. A major philanthropist himself, the Russian tycoon, speaking exclusively to City A.M., describes oligarchs as the drivers of progress in Russia through their hefty donations to education, culture and public health. To UK ears, this is a fresh and fascinating take: [...]
Wal-Mart defends itself against claims it stopped bribery probe April 22, 2012 GLOBAL grocery giant Wal-Mart said it is “working hard” to get to the bottom of claims of corruption in Mexico, after reports alleged that it had “hushed up” an internal bribery probe. The New York Times had reported that in 2005, management at Wal-Mart closed an investigation into bribes paid to secure building permits. Wal-Mart [...]