Jeremy Hunt’s fiscal rules are holding back the UK economy – it’s time for change February 21, 2023 Bean counters are running the Treasury again. I’m imagining sheets of paper plastered with Jeremy Hunt’s current fiscal rules pinned up around Whitehall to remind departments of the belt-tightening needed to balance the books. Fiscal rules are targets Chancellors have aimed to meet since George Osborne pivoted away from Gordon Brown’s “Golden Rules” in 2010 [...]
UK retail sales’ sluggish new year start as cash-strapped Brits go online to nab deals February 17, 2023 UK retail sales remained muted in January following December’s fall, with fuel sales spiking and prices continuing to plummet. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released the figures which showed retail sales volumes increased by just half a per cent last month. This comes after it dipped by 1.2 per cent in December, despite the [...]
Why is the UK economy poised to tumble into a recession and fall behind Europe, US and even Russia? February 16, 2023 Britain avoided a much-tipped recession at the end of last year. Phew. “However, we are not out of the woods yet,” warned Chancellor Jeremy Hunt after last Friday’s GDP figures from the ONS revealed the economy stagnated at the end of 2022, meaning it narrowly avoided the technical recession definition of two consecutive quarters of [...]
UK inflation drops for third straight month in sign Bank of England is nearing end of interest rate hikes February 15, 2023 Inflation in the UK is falling faster than experts expected which may convince the Bank of England to consider ending its aggressive campaign to tame prices with interest rate rises, official figures out today reveal. The rate of price increases in Britain dropped to 10.1 per cent last month, down from 10.5 per cent in [...]
Inflation erodes UK real pay rapidly despite record wage increases as 137,000 Brits return to workforce February 14, 2023 UK take home pay is falling at one of the fastest paces since records began over two decades ago despite wage growth racing ahead at the quickest rate outside the pandemic, official figures out today reveal. Real pay fell 4.3 per cent over the three months to December last year when using the consumer price [...]
The £200bn Covid savings war chest that could prevent a UK recession February 14, 2023 There’s a war chest of nearly £200bn – which started to be built up during the pandemic and has grown ever since – that could save the UK from recession. This may come as a surprise when all we hear from Westminster is how skint we are, but the stash of cash isn’t made up [...]
UK narrowly avoids recession as GDP remains unchanged but Jeremy Hunt warns country ‘not out the woods yet’ February 10, 2023 The UK very narrowly avoided a recession in the final months of last year but the economy contracted sharply over Christmas, official figures out today reveal. Gross domestic product (GDP) remained unchanged in the final three months of last year, meaning the country swerved the technical recession definition of two consecutive quarters of contraction, according [...]
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey ‘very uncertain’ about inflation decline February 9, 2023 The Bank of England’s governor, Andrew Bailey, has today admitted he is “very uncertain” about whether inflation will decline, forcing him to back another steep interest rate increase last week. Responding to a grilling by MPs on the commons treasury select committee, Bailey, 63, said he wants to see “more evidence” of the rate of [...]
More than £18bn was added to non-food retail sales by inflation as 80 per cent of retailers prepare to raise prices February 8, 2023 Inflation is set to add £18.2 billion to UK non-food retail sales this year, a report suggests. Sales values are expected to hit £249 billion in 2023, but the 2.6 per cent increase – or an additional £18.2 billion of spending on last year – will be driven entirely by rising consumer prices, according to [...]
UK to narrowly avoid recession but cost of living crisis will leave families £4,000 worse off February 8, 2023 The UK is poised to narrowly avoid a recession but the cost of living crisis will still leave average Brits £4,000 worse off this year, fresh forecasts out today reveal. Britain’s economy is set to squeeze out 0.2 per cent of GDP growth in 2023, meaning it will just about swerve a technical reversal, two [...]