Business groups question Bank of England Mann’s ‘greedflation’ claim March 8, 2023 Business groups yesterday said many firms had no choice but to raise prices to offset high costs in response to a Bank of England rate setter claiming companies are pursuing so-called ‘greedflation’ by pumping up prices to exploit strong consumer spending. Catherine Mann, an external member of the Bank’s rate setting monetary policy committee (MPC), [...]
FTSE 100 close: Powell interest rate warning drags London index into the red March 7, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 was muted today as investors sweat over whether Fed chair Jerome Powell’s warning that US interest rates will stay higher for longer means other central banks will follow suit. The capital’s premier index closed 0.13 per cent lower at 7,919.49 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned [...]
Federal Reserve chair Powell warns of ‘higher than expected’ rate peak and steep hikes to stun inflation March 7, 2023 The US Federal Reserve is prepared to heap more pressure on the world’s largest economy by returning to steep interest rate hikes to contain inflation, its chief warned today. Jerome Powell, chair of the Fed, said the world’s most influential central bank is “prepared to accelerate rate hikes” if the pace of price increases in [...]
UK’s post-Brexit Solvency II reforms will increase risk of insurers collapsing… by just 0.1 percentage points March 6, 2023 The Bank of England today warned the UK’s planned Solvency II reforms could increase the risk of insurers collapsing… by just 0.1 percentage points. In a letter published today, the BoE’s governor Andrew Bailey said the UK government’s plan to overhaul the EU’s rules will increase the risk of life insurers collapsing by 20 per [...]
From the digital pound, to homeworking via heat pumps: City A.M.’s five most-read stories of the week March 3, 2023 The most read story of the last seven days was the revelation that the digital pound would coming this decade. Details of the unpublished Treasury and BoE report were reported here and read by hundreds of thousands of readers Second most read was our energy editor’s piece on heat pumps, following British Gas owner’s decision [...]
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warns interest rates may have to rise again to tackle inflation March 1, 2023 Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey has today warned interest rates may need to rise even higher to tame inflation, signalling yet more pain is in store for families and businesses. Speaking at a conference on the cost of living crisis in London, Bailey, 63, said if the Bank does “too little with [...]
Cost of living crisis has forced families to take on £1.1bn debt and dig into savings, says Bank of England March 1, 2023 Families are saving far less than they did over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic and maxing on credit cards to maintain spending amid the cost of living crisis, official figures have revealed. Brits set aside £3.5bn in January in savings accounts, a slight increase from December, but below the pre-pandemic monthly average increase of [...]
ECB expected to hike rates to a record four per cent as central bank struggles to tame inflation February 28, 2023 The European Central Bank (ECB) will hike interest rates to their highest level since the monetary authority of the group of countries using the euro was created in 1999, markets are betting. President Christine Lagarde and the rest of the governing council, Europe’s equivalent to the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, are poised to [...]
IFS: No room for tax cuts or spending rises at March budget despite Jeremy Hunt pocketing £60bn windfall February 28, 2023 There is no room for tax cuts or spending increases at the 15 March budget despite Jeremy Hunt being handed an around £60bn windfall from lower energy prices and interest rates, a top economic think tank has forecast today. The Chancellor will be held back from handing households and businesses a tax giveaway due to [...]
End of Bank of England £800bn bond buying scheme poses headaches for Treasury and taxpayers February 28, 2023 The magic money tree is shedding its leaves. Over a decade of cheap cash propping up the global economy has been toppled by a once in a generation inflation problem. QE was a necessary response to the batch of shocks ricocheting around the global economy since 2008. Now it’s shifted into reverse. But how did [...]