ECB increases emergency bond buy-up May 24, 2010 THE European Central Bank (ECB) had snapped up at least €26.5bn (£22.8bn) worth of government bonds by the end of last week. It bought a minimum of €10bn bonds in the second week of a programme supporting a rescue package masterminded by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The purchases typically take 2-3 days to settle, [...]
Libor rises to highest level in 10 months May 24, 2010 THE COST of borrowing dollars on London’s inter-bank lending market has soared to its highest level in almost ten months, on fears that banks exposed to the European debt crisis could fall into serious difficulties. The three-month Libor edged above 0.5 per cent for the first time since July, amid concerns another liquidity crisis is [...]
IMF tells Spain to introduce wide-ranging labour reforms May 24, 2010 SPAIN must make far-reaching, comprehensive reforms, including labour market reforms, and its economic recovery remains fragile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said yesterday. “The challenges are severe: a dysfunctional labour market, the deflating property bubble, a large fiscal deficit, heavy private sector and external indebtedness, anemic productivity growth, weak competitiveness, and a banking sector with [...]
Economists warn of more pain to come May 24, 2010 THE spending cuts announced by the new coalition government yesterday amount to just one tenth of the fiscal tightening that will be needed to repair Britain’s parlous public finances, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The bleak assessment came as chancellor George Osborne detailed £6.2bn of spending cuts that he said would make [...]
ECONOMIST VIEWS: DO THESE CUTS GO FAR ENOUGH? May 24, 2010 ROBERT CHOTE | IFS “Since £500m is being recycled, and £704m does not have to be found until next year, the likely reduction in borrowing in 2010-11 is around £5bn. This is less than a tenth of the fiscal repair job Alistair Darling’s March 2010 Budget suggested will be needed over the next few years.” [...]
WHERE THE AXE WILL FALL | WHO WILL BE AFFECTED? May 24, 2010 • Local Authorities £1.165bn of savings will be made by reducing grants to Local Authorities. The Government will also remove the ringfences around over £1.7bn of grants to local authorities in 2010-11, to give them greater flexibility to re-shape their budgets and find savings. • Health and defence Savings in these protected areas will be [...]
These cuts should have gone further May 24, 2010 THE build-up to the election saw all of the major parties arguing over when to start cutting public spending. Straight away, some said. This year is too early, we could put the recovery at risk, others replied. What we didn’t hear was how they would cut spending. The new coalition is right to think that [...]
BP oil spill clean up bill set to top $1bn in weeks May 24, 2010 THE cost of cleaning up the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is is inching closer to $1bn. So far, BP has spent $760m as it pushes on with its efforts to plug a leak currently spewing thousands of barrels of oil into the sea. Analysts expect costs to breach the billion dollar mark [...]
It’s the not knowing that is hurting BP May 24, 2010 PREDICTING the cost of oil spills before they’ve been cleared up is a mug’s game. For what it’s worth, Barcap reckons BP will shell out $3bn on the disaster. Independent stock market research house Fat Prophets puts it nearer an unlikely $10bn. The truth is nobody knows. Yesterday, BP issued a bullish statement in response [...]
CITY VIEWS: DOES THE OIL SPILL JEOPARDISE BP’S LONG-TERM FUTURE? May 24, 2010 MATT JOHNSON | UNITED INSURANCE BROKERS “It’s such a big task to sort. They are not doing enough to stop it, since the well is still leaking weeks on. In the trade press, it’s such a big story and it’s surprising the national press aren’t covering it more. I think Obama has done the right [...]
