Our at-a-glance guide to Osborne’s mini-budget December 5, 2013 Growth up, borrowing down, yet the debt is still rising. Another raid on the banks, but shops to gain from reduced business rates THE UK ECONOMIC OUTLOOK● The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has revised up its forecast for economic growth and revised down its prediction for inflation. It expects unemployment to drop quickly next [...]
Mourning the father of a rainbow nation December 5, 2013 ONE OF my earliest memories is of a primary teacher encouraging my class to pray every day for the release of Nelson Mandela. “Your prayers will pile up like leaves, until their weight forces open his prison.” That would have been in the early 1980s, by which time Mandela had already spent two decades in [...]
UK economy improving but far from cured December 5, 2013 THERE can be no doubt that this Winter Budget – as it should really have been called – was a great win for George Osborne. For the first time since around 2007, Britain is moving in the right, rather than the wrong, direction. Growth has bounced back, the deficit is falling, employment is surging, unemployment [...]
Merck picks up AZ Electronic in £1.6bn purchase December 5, 2013 LONDON-listed chemicals company AZ Electronic Materials has agreed a £1.56bn takeover by German manufacturer Merck. AZ, a maker of chemicals for Apple’s iPad displays and memory chips, saw its share price rise over 50 per cent to 395p a share on news of the deal yesterday, just shy of the 403.5p per share that the [...]
Labour pressures Cable over RBS reports December 5, 2013 LAWRENCE Tomlinson, the entrepreneur who caused a storm around RBS by accusing it of harming small firms, is not an independent voice as he himself has a long running claim against the bank, Labour’s Chuka Umunna said yesterday. The shadow business secretary accused the business department’s entrepreneur in residence of bias against the bank because [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 6 December 2013 December 5, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Lew urges race to top on bank reform Jack Lew, the US treasury secretary, warned that US financial reforms aimed at ending the problem of banks that are “too big to fail” would fall short unless international regulators held global banks to the same high standards. The US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is [...]
Strong growth in the US proves Osborne wrong December 5, 2013 A MERE two hours after Osborne claimed the UK was the fastest growing Western economy, official figures from the US proved him wrong. The Commerce Department’s latest revision to its third quarter GDP figure showed that the US economy grew 0.9 per cent in the three months to the end of September compared to the [...]
Eurozone holds monetary policy as inflation outlook weakens December 5, 2013 THE EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) held interest rates yesterday, as was widely expected after last month’s surprise cut. Bank president Mario Draghi said the institution was “ready to consider all available instruments,” adding: “We may experience a prolonged period of low inflation.” The ECB’s forecast for the years ahead suggests that the harmonised index of [...]
Bank sticks to interest rates December 5, 2013 THE BANK of England left monetary policy unchanged yesterday, sticking to its commitment to keep interest rates at a record low 0.5 per cent until Britain’s recovery is more firmly established. At its two-day meeting, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee also opted to leave its bond-buying programme unchanged at £375bn. It has indicated it will [...]
Thames Barrier closes ahead of biggest storm for 60 years December 5, 2013 THE Thames Barrier was closed last night to protect London from a tidal storm surge that forecasters warned could be the worst for 60 years. The Thames Barrier has been closed in order to slow the expected tidal surge. More than 60 severe flood warnings were issued yesterday ahead of what the Environment Agency was [...]
