Posen: Extend QE beyond gilts February 2, 2012 MONETARY Policy Committee (MPC) member Adam Posen yesterday revealed he had pushed colleagues to extend quantitative easing beyond government bonds. The arch-dove wants the Bank to buy corporate debt as part of a wider series of reforms to boost lending, particularly to small businesses. Posen has long argued in favour of quantitative easing, and believes [...]
Brits’ savings dwarfed by large Chinese nest eggs February 2, 2012 CHINESE people save around nine times more than Britons, as a proportion of income, according to figures released yesterday. Since 2001 the savings ratio in China spiked from 27 per cent to a staggering 47 per cent, according to research from Lloyds TSB. In the UK the recession saw the savings ratio rise to seven [...]
Recession will cause unemployment to be permanently higher, think tank says February 2, 2012 THE FINANCIAL crisis will leave the UK with a higher rate of structural unemployment, and even when the economy recovers joblessness will remain elevated, according to a report published today by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR). Economic output will fall by 0.1 per cent over 2012 as a whole, before recovering [...]
American jobs market showing signs of gradual recovery, new data shows February 2, 2012 NEW claims for unemployment benefits in the US fell more than expected last week, pointing to more healing in the nation’s battered jobs market. Data on jobless claims zigzagged over the last few weeks, but the figures suggest employers are less eager to lay off workers, offering hope they could also step up hiring as [...]
Construction sector still expanding but rate slows February 2, 2012 THE WEAK UK housing market and cuts to government building budgets have slowed growth in construction activity, Markit’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) showed yesterday. The headline index fell from 53.2 in December to 51.4 in January, while the employment index fell to 50 – the no-change mark. Construction output has now increased for 13 consecutive [...]
CHRIS HUHNE TO LEARN FATE OF SPEEDING CASE TODAY February 2, 2012 Energy secretary Chris Huhne will learn this morning whether he is to be prosecuted over claims he lied to avoid a speeding ban, in a decision that could derail his political career and force a cabinet reshuffle. The Liberal Democrat minister has denied any wrongdoing over allegations he asked his estranged wife Vicky Pryce to [...]
GOLDMAN’S OUTSPOKEN PRESS AIDE SIGNS OFF February 2, 2012 LUCAS VAN Praag was well-known for firing cerebral, elegantly worded scorn on anyone who crossed paths with Goldman Sachs. So the PR man’s exit from the bank, as confirmed yesterday, was similarly well-phrased. “C’est la vie,” emailed Goldman’s chief spokesman, the logical conclusion to the leak earlier this week that Jake Siewart, former aide to [...]
Shell targets growth after profits miss February 2, 2012 ROYAL Dutch Shell yesterday announced an expansion plan aimed at ramping up oil production. Unveiling a profits rise of 50 per cent to $28.6bn (£18.1bn) for 2011, the company said it would pump $30bn into new oil and gas projects this year. The profits, which fell short of analyst estimates, compare with $24bn in 2011, [...]
Coryton attracts 40 suitors February 2, 2012 UK REFINERY Coryton has attracted more than 40 interested parties following the insolvency of its owner, Swiss refining group Petroplus and some of them are “very credible,” its administrator said yesterday. “There have been over 40 expressions of interest from the speculative to the highly credible,” said Katherine Howbrook, a spokeswoman for PwC. “There have [...]
QinetiQ to hit forecasts despite defence cutbacks February 2, 2012 DEFENCE technology company QinetiQ said yesterday it expects to meet full-year profit forecasts despite uncertainty on future levels of military spending in Britain and the United States. Late last year the company said it would beat its own earnings expectations for the year by 20 per cent after restructuring and cost cuts drove a 45 [...]
