IMF slashes UK growth forecast as tariffs create ‘significant slowdown’ April 22, 2025 The IMF has downgraded its UK growth forecast by 0.5 per cent this year as President Donald Trump’s trade war brings global tariff rates to “centennial highs”. The IMF said the UK economy would grow by 1.1 per cent growth this year, reflecting leading forecasters’ worries about the ongoing global trade war between US and [...]
Reeves’ tax rise to push up inflation, BoE’s Megan Greene warns April 22, 2025 Rachel Reeves’ national insurance tax rise will push up inflation and lead to a “shake-up” of the labour market, Bank of England rate-setter Megan Greene has warned. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Greene said she was particularly concerned about “weakness in output” for the best part of a year as she suggested Reeves’ tax [...]
Tariff talks to dominate IMF-World Bank meetings April 21, 2025 Finance ministers are poised to use this week’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank’s gathering to strike up trade deals with bilateral partners as uncertainty continues to swirl around Donald Trump’s tariff plan. Senior politicians and economic heavyweights are flocking to Washington for the biannual gathering put on by the two global agencies, with [...]
Aston Villa’s non-dom owner quit UK due to ‘Tory incompetence’ April 21, 2025 The non-dom co-owner of Aston Villa football club has blamed the Conservative party’s mismanagement of the economy for his decision to leave the UK earlier this year. Nassef Sawiris, a chemicals magnate who is Egypt’s richest man, became one of the most high profile ultra high net worth individuals to avoid the government’s crackdown on [...]
Reeves: Cutting ties with China would be ‘foolish’ April 19, 2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said it would be “foolish” to stop engaging with China. Reeves is due to hold talks with the US next week amid efforts to strike a trade deal, which the UK hopes can help soften the brunt of Donald Trump’s tariffs. There has been speculation that Washington may press the UK [...]
Staff at small businesses suffer falling wages April 18, 2025 Staff at small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) saw their wages fall at the end of March, new analysis suggests, as firms wrestled to absorb the impact of Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ national insurance tax hikes. Data released by the Office for National Statistics this week suggested that wage growth across the wider UK economy has exceeded five [...]
Week in Business: Labour’s jobs madness as employers urge change of plan April 17, 2025 Business Secretary Johnny Reynolds was so fed up with people criticising him for never having run a business that he bought himself a whopping great steel mill in Scunthorpe. Now firmly a member of the boss class, will he have sympathy with the business chiefs who this week begged the government to rip up their [...]
UK-US trade deal could be agreed within weeks, as MPs call for vote April 17, 2025 A trade deal between the UK and the US could reportedly be agreed within weeks, as senior MPs have called for Parliament to have a vote on any such agreement. According to a report in the Telegraph, White House officials believe a deal with the UK could be finalised with President Donald Trump’s administration in [...]
Trump’s tariffs to tip world over into ‘recessionary phase’ April 16, 2025 A locking of horns between the US and China over tariffs could tip the world economy into recession as soon as this year, a closely-watched forecast has suggested, as businesses wrestle with the fallout of declining global trade volumes. Global growth is set to slow to 2.3 per cent this year, according to projections by [...]
Tourist tax: Lisa Nandy says Labour may ‘explore’ restoring VAT free shopping April 16, 2025 Lisa Nandy has said the government “could explore” restoring VAT free shopping after hearing “very loud and clear” the calls from the industry to scrap the so-called tourist tax. The culture, media and sport secretary told Elle UK magazine that fashion was in the “soul of the nation” and ministers recognised its “centrality” to the [...]