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 [...]
Exclusive: Brits turn to buy-now pay-later to fund spending amid cost of living crisis February 9, 2023 Brits are turning to buy-now pay-later products to fund online spending amid a cost of living squeeze that is eroding their disposable income rapidly, exclusive research shared with City A.M. reveals. Nearly £1 in every £8 spent online last month was sourced from buy-now pay-later providers, according to research by Adobe Analytics. The proportion is [...]
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 [...]
House prices are poised to slide in 2023 but straight into the hands of the lucky few February 7, 2023 There’s a pretty wild variety of house price predictions doing the rounds. Capital Economics have forecast they could fall 12 per cent, while experts at property search site Zoopla are a bit more optimistic. The consensus seems to be somewhere around a six per cent fall in 2023. One thing is certain: house prices are [...]
Bank of England aggressive rate hikes send chill through UK construction economy February 6, 2023 The Bank of England’s ten successive interest rate rises have sent a chill through the UK’s construction economy, a closely watched survey out today shows. Potential home buyers are shunning purchases due to mortgage rates flying higher, prompting house builders to rein in spending. S&P Global and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply’s (CIPS) [...]
Bank of England will have to keep hiking rates to stop inflation hanging around, MPC’s Mann warns February 6, 2023 The Bank of England will have to hike interest rates again to stop the UK from being hit by a much stronger inflation surge than expected, one of its top rate setters has said today. Catherine Mann, an external member of the monetary policy committee (MPC) who has consistently backed steeper rate increases compared to [...]
Bank of England not poised to slash interest rates until middle of next year despite inflation cooling February 5, 2023 A year of interest rate pain is still in store for households, businesses and mortgagors even after Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and his team of economists have already lifted borrowing costs 10 times in a row. That is according to several top City economists, who do not expect interest rate cuts until early [...]
Another interest rate hike to boost banks’ profits, but how long will the windfall last? February 2, 2023 Bank shares prices were mixed after the Bank of England raised interest rates by 50 basis points earlier today, as the pressure on banks to pass on higher interest rates to savers grew. The more domestically focused Lloyds and Natwest were trading 1.0 per cent and 0.6 per cent higher respectively. Barclays was up 0.8 [...]