Brits swap pub for nights in as inflation deals heavy blow to finances October 11, 2022 Brits are responding to the cost of living crunch by ditching the pub for nights in to save money, a survey published today revealed. Consumer spending grew at the slowest rate since February 2021 over the last month, jumping 1.8 per cent over the year to September, Barclaycard said. Inflation has hovered around a 40-year [...]
£62bn of spending cuts needed to balance books, IFS forecasts October 11, 2022 Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng will need to slim the size of the state by £62bn to put the UK’s public finances on a stable footing, a top economic think tank said today. The prime minister and chancellor could be forced to reduce education and transport spending, which suffered deep cuts during the David Cameron [...]
Bank of England doubles daily bond purchase cap, but borrowing costs surge October 10, 2022 The Bank of England has rolled out a raft of measures to help shore up the UK gilt market this morning as it looks to stave off a return to turmoil when it halts its bond-buying programme on Friday.
OBR financial report and government fiscal plan to be delivered on 31 October October 10, 2022 The UK’s spending and borrowing watchdog’s assessment of the government’s tax cutting splurge will be released on 31 October, chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced today. In a letter to Tory MP and chair of the treasury select committee, Mel Stride, Kwarteng said he has decided to bring the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecasts forward from [...]
Marshalls’ shares plummet as firm warns of slowdown in sales October 7, 2022 Shares in building materials manufacturer Marshalls fell almost 20 per cent today after the firm warned of a slowdown in sales due to faltering demand. The West Yorkshire firm said its outturn will be “slightly below the bottom end of the current range of market expectations” as its sales start to slow. The warning comes [...]
UK jobs market finally flashes cool down signals as hiring slows October 7, 2022 The UK jobs market is finally flashing slowdown signals after running hot for months after the worst of the Covid-19 crisis, a closely watched survey published today reveals. Firms are moderating hiring campaigns in response to concerns over the UK’s weakening economy and a shortage of workers. Britain is on course for a recession as [...]
Pound snaps winning streak against US dollar after Truss conference speech October 5, 2022 The pound slumped against the US dollar today, slicing some of the gains it has made since the currency collapsed after Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget last month. Sterling weakened as much as two per cent against the greenback. It was down against the euro too. The world’s major currencies have tumbled against the dollar this year. [...]
Services economy stalls as UK ‘drifts’ toward recession October 5, 2022 Britain’s all important services economy is stagnating, driven by consumers cutting spending in response to soaring inflation, a closely watched survey out today shows. S&P Global and the Chartered Institute for Procurement and Supply’s (CIPS) purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to 50 last month from 50.9 in August. The reading means the UK services economy [...]
Kwarteng trashes market bets on earlier OBR report and fiscal plan October 4, 2022 The pound today climbed to its highest level against the US dollar in two weeks despite chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng trashing market expectations of a sooner-than-expected fiscal plan. Sterling surged 0.78 per cent against the greenback to buy $1.141. It has now regained all its losses since Kwarteng’s mini-budget rocked the currency last month. UK borrowing [...]
Truss and Kwarteng mini-budget to ‘deepen’ UK recession October 4, 2022 Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s decision to slash taxes and ramp up borrowing without costing their plans will make the looming UK recession worse, City economists predicted today. Soaring mortgage rates driven by lenders passing on higher market yields pushed up by a lack of confidence in prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s [...]