Banks, inflation, recession, gold AND Ocado: Five lessons the markets taught us this week March 31, 2023 It’s spring. The days are longer, the sun is shining, and fears about the imminent implosion of the global financial system are fading, for now anyway. Markets appeared to calm down after several weeks of banking-related aftershocks and both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 were on course to end the week on a positive [...]
Can the government’s green finance plans really get investment flowing? March 31, 2023 The government’s delayed plans to boost investment into the country’s net zero transition have divided opinion in the City today, with campaign groups and firms warring over whether the plans go far enough in their scale and ambition. Among the measures announced are a number of reviews and policy consultations designed to kick on the [...]
House prices fall in largest annual drop since 2009 as inflation and higher borrowing costs dampen property market March 31, 2023 House prices fell 3.1 per cent in March, the largest annual decline since July 2009 as consumer confidence remained weak and household budgets came under increasing pressure from high inflation. According to data from Nationwide, East Anglia, which was the strongest performing region last quarter, saw a significant slowdown, with prices falling 1.8 per cent [...]
UK narrowly avoids recession as penny pinching Brits help GDP grow 0.1 per cent March 31, 2023 The UK was not formally in a dreaded recession between October and December, with UK GDP increasing slightly by 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022. Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the economy marginally improved from an initial estimate of “no growth”. [...]
Rolls Royce shake up: BP exec appointed CFO as part of transformation programme March 31, 2023 Engineering giant Rolls-Royce has appointed BP exec Helen McCabe as its new finance chief as part of a “transformation programme” which was launched by chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic back in February. In a statement Rolls Royce Helen McCabe, currently senior vice president for finance in the customer and products division at BP, will be joining [...]
Recession? Five graphs that show where the UK economy is and where it is heading March 31, 2023 Are we in a recession? Aren’t we in a recession? Are we headed into a recession? At this point, who knows. At the start of the year, everyone said “yes definitely, and a bad one”. Now, those projections look a bit overcooked. Essentially, it’s on a knife edge. City A.M. takes a look at the [...]
UK to join Indo-Pacific trade bloc CPTPP in major ‘milestone’ March 31, 2023 The UK is to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade bloc, in a major “milestone” for post-Brexit trade, the government has confirmed. Ministers announced the deal making the UK the first European nation to join the major Indo-Pacific free trade bloc, worth a total of £11 trillion GDP, after negotiating [...]
Broadband, mobile bills and council tax rises threaten ‘awful April’ for householders already facing cost of living crisis March 31, 2023 Households battling the cost of living crisis are facing an onslaught of price hikes that could leave the average family hundreds of pounds a year worse off. From April 1, millions of people will face increases to their broadband, mobile, water and council tax bills. Most local authorities are putting up council tax by 5 [...]
Can we ever break the iPhone monopoly? March 31, 2023 Apple's services generate more revenue than Nike and McDonald's combined.
Britain joining the CPTPP trade bloc isn’t about economics, it’s about influence March 31, 2023 As with most things, it’s best to ignore the hype and the haters: joining the CPTPP is a good thing for the UK.
