UK borrowing tipped to have jumped to £23bn in March but Hunt and Sunak are on course to hit OBR forecasts April 23, 2023 Britain is tipped to have borrowed nearly £23bn last month to help pay for capping energy bills at £2,500, according to City analysts’ consensus forecast. Fresh numbers out from the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday are expected to show the gap between what the government generates in revenue from taxes and spends on public [...]
UK economy in ‘early stages of recovery’ as families shrug off inflation and interest rate hikes April 21, 2023 Britain’s economy could be in the early stages of a recovery, with consumers holding up pretty well under the pressure of high inflation and interest rate increases, a closely watched survey out today indicates. Families’ outlook on how well the economy will perform over the coming year is improving, while confidence in their own personal [...]
FTSE 100 close: Inflation shock drags London index lower as real estate firms lead losses April 19, 2023 London’s FTSE 100 slipped today as investors took fright at UK inflation topping forecasts to stay in the double digits last month. The capital’s premier index shed 0.13 per cent to drop to 7,898.78 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, fell 0.49 [...]
Will inflation ever fall back below 10 per cent? Yes, but we’ve been wrong before April 19, 2023 We find ourselves in the same situation again. UK inflation has topped the City and Bank of England’s expectations, hanging in the double digits in March at 10.1 per cent. The forecast was for it to slip to 9.8 per cent. Families and businesses will be forgiven for worrying whether it will ever fall back [...]
Bank of England to hike interest rates to five per cent after inflation tops forecasts to stay in double digits April 19, 2023 UK inflation has smashed expectations to stick in the double digits, in a sign that the cost of living crisis is still gripping families and businesses across the country, prompting markets to bet the Bank of England will hike interest rates to five per cent. The rate of price increases trimmed to 10.1 per cent [...]
Inflation sliding and tough Bank of England means the pound will see better days April 18, 2023 “Hope is not a strategy,” Jordan Rochester, a wonk at Japanese investment bank Nomura, said last September, referring to politicians’ attempts to revive the pound after it plummeted to its lowest level ever against the US dollar following Liz Truss’s tax cutting mini budget. A lot has changed since then. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt raised taxes [...]
Bank of England to shun interest rate hike for first time since November 2021 next month April 18, 2023 The Bank of England will keep interest rates unchanged at its next meeting on 11 May, marking the first time the central bank has not hiked borrowing costs since November 2021, a new survey out yesterday predicted. According to a survey by Bloomberg, more than half of City economists suspect Governor Andrew Bailey and the [...]
FTSE finance chiefs ditch UK recession bets as confidence rebounds sharply April 17, 2023 Money managers at Britain’s biggest companies have signalled a sharp increase in confidence in the UK economy, a closely watched survey out today shows, in a further sign the country is on course to dodge a recession. Chief financial officers of top UK corporates notched a net positive 25 per cent confidence rating in Deloitte’s [...]
Bank of England won’t cut interest rates until Christmas but UK to avoid recession April 17, 2023 The Bank of England is poised to cut interest rates at Christmas, lured into the decision by inflation falling rapidly over the course of this year, new forecasts that also say the UK will dodge a recession out today claim. Governor Andrew Bailey and his team of economists are tipped to launch the first rate [...]
Britain still at risk of ‘mild recession’ despite better than feared start to year, Lloyds Bank chief predicts April 16, 2023 Britain could still suffer “a mild recession” despite the economy performing much better than experts warned at the turn of the year, the head of Lloyds Bank, the country’s largest mortgage lender, has said. Charlie Nunn, chief executive of Lloyds Bank, told The Sunday Times that there is a “more positive outlook” about the UK [...]