MPC steadied by string of positive data June 14, 2009 CAUTIOUS optimism is likely to dominate the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) June minutes due out this Wednesday, in the light of the last fortnight’s string of positive data. Key MPC members including Kate Barker and Paul Fisher have already expressed concerns about the strength and sustainability of the UK’s nascent economic recovery, [...]
MPC steadied by string of positive data June 14, 2009 CAUTIOUS optimism is likely to dominate the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) June minutes due out this Wednesday, in the light of the last fortnight’s string of positive data. Key MPC members including Kate Barker and Paul Fisher have already expressed concerns about the strength and sustainability of the UK’s nascent economic recovery, [...]
Headline UK inflation still above target June 16, 2009 BRITISH headline inflation fell by much less than had been expected in May, raising speculation that the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) may decide not to extend its quantitative easing programme beyond the current £125bn. Official data yesterday showed that consumer prices rose 0.6 per cent last month, taking the annual rate of [...]
Council of regulators led by chancellor to monitor risks to the financial system July 8, 2009 A NEW Council for Financial Stability (CFS), composed of representatives from the tripartite authorities, will be handed responsibility for monitoring emerging risks in the financial system, chancellor Alistair Darling announced yesterday. The CFS, to be chaired by Darling himself, will see figures from the Treasury, Bank of England and FSA meet regularly to discuss and [...]
Tightening spreads and QE make corporate bonds more attractive August 19, 2009 CORPORATE bond issuance so far this year smashed through the $1 trillion mark, the first time that this amount has been raised by non-financial corporates in a single year, figures from data provider Dealogic showed earlier this week. And while the European corporate bond market has typically been less developed than the American market, European [...]
Great Portland pays 18m to exit bet May 27, 2009 PROPERTY group Great Portland Estates yesterday spent £18.2m to buy its way out of an expensive interest rate hedge. The London landlord became the first major property company to pay a hefty break fee to end an interest rate hedge on £190m of debt. It’s thought the move will save the company about £8.5m a [...]
BoE ready to pump more money into economy if needed May 20, 2009 FRESH money will be pumped into the economy if the outlook deterioriates further, the minutes from the Bank of England’s May policy meeting indicated yesterday. At the meeting, all nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted in favour of extending the central bank’s quantitative easing programme by £50bn, taking the total to £125bn. [...]
Consumer-related stocks to shed some light on spending June 14, 2009 RETAILERS will be very much in the spotlight again this week, with trading updates expected from the great and good of the supermarket world and retail sales data expected to shed more light on the high street picture. Tesco will get the ball rolling tomorrow when it releases its first quarter sales data, but is [...]
Controlling banks’ capital no panacea June 21, 2009 VIRTUALLY every week during the bubble years, I would talk to economists who were well aware that the economy was on an unsustainable path. In 2005, 2006 and 2007 some of these were so anxious that they could barely sleep at nights. They usually hailed from the Austrian School of Economics – many of whom [...]
Controlling banks’ capital no panacea June 21, 2009 VIRTUALLY every week during the bubble years, I would talk to economists who were well aware that the economy was on an unsustainable path. In 2005, 2006 and 2007 some of these were so anxious that they could barely sleep at nights. They usually hailed from the Austrian School of Economics – many of whom [...]