UK borrowing costs tank as mini budget U-turn rumours gather pace October 14, 2022 UK borrowing costs fell sharply today driven by chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and prime minister Liz Truss reportedly set to U-turn on more parts of their mini budget. The chancellor has today cut short his trip to the International Monetary Fund’s Washington meetings to hold emergency talks with Truss in London. Rumours of a second U-turn [...]
UK borrowing costs drop as Kwarteng hints at mini budget U-turn October 13, 2022 UK borrowing costs collapsed today driven by chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng sending the strongest signal yet he will roll back elements of last month’s mini budget. Rates on UK gilts dropped across the curve after they yesterday climbed to their highest level since the day the Bank was forced to step in. Yields on the 30-year [...]
US inflation tops expectations in sign Federal Reserve has more work to do October 13, 2022 US inflation climbed higher than expected on a monthly basis in September in a sign the Federal Reserve’s series of steep rate hikes are failing to tame the toughest price pressures. Inflation hit 0.4 per cent last month, above Wall Street’s expectations of a 0.2 per cent increase and higher than August’s print, figures from [...]
The Inflation Game: War, Peace and the Perils of Central Banking October 13, 2022 | City Talk The descent is always more sudden than the increase; a balloon that has been punctured does not deflate in an orderly way. — John Kenneth Galbraith I travelled with my family to London and Normandy in July 2022. Our primary purpose was to meet up in France with my father-in-law, who had dreamed of visiting the [...]
Bank of England warns of ‘severe risks’ to market stability and financial crisis debt levels October 12, 2022 The Bank of England’s emergency £65bn bond buying scheme – that its chief Andrew Bailey last night confirmed will end on Friday – has been fighting “severe risks” to UK financial stability, the central bank said today. Turmoil in UK gilt markets since the government’s mini budget threatened to trigger “an excessive and sudden tightening [...]
Deutsche Bank slams Kwarteng’s targets as ‘impossible’ amid NIESR warning ‘guerrilla tactics’ unsettle markets October 12, 2022 Deutsche Bank’s chief UK economist said this morning Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” to trigger the financial turmoil. Sanjay Raja told the Commons Treasury Committee there is “absolutely a global component” to the issues but he said there is an “idiosyncratic UK-specific component”. He said the “trade shock” because [...]
UK economy on recession cliff edge as GDP unexpectedly shrinks October 12, 2022 The UK is staring over a recession cliff edge, caused by soaring inflation and rising interest rates, that will be lengthened by turmoil in financial markets, official figures published today revealed. The economy unexpectedly shrank 0.3 per cent over the month to August, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Economists had expected gross [...]
Bank of England steps up bond market support again to tame ‘risk to financial stability’ October 11, 2022 The Bank of England today stepped up its emergency bond buying scheme to tackle “a material risk to UK financial stability”. It is the second time in as many days the Bank has ramped up support for the UK bond market, underscoring the scale of volatility it is grappling with. The monetary authority led by [...]
UK headed for stagnation on worst inflation crisis in G7, IMF warns October 11, 2022 A historic hit to Brits’ living standards from roaring inflation and rising interest rates has thrown the UK economy on course to stagnation, the world’s lender of last resort warned today. The UK economy will grow a better than expected 3.6 per cent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest World Economic [...]
UK unemployment falls to 50 year-low amid jobs market exodus October 11, 2022 A sharp rise in the number of Brits dropping out of the jobs market altogether has artificially pushed the UK unemployment rate down to its lowest level since the mid 1970s, official figures published today reveal. The volume of people in the UK not looking for work climbed around 330,000 over the last three months, [...]