City job losses loom amid government tax grab and recession November 22, 2022 Square Mile banks, brokers and insurers will shed jobs to alleviate pressure on their balance sheets from the government hiking taxes, the new Lord Mayor of the City of London has warned. Nicholas Lyons, the freshly minted 694th Mayor of the City, told Bloomberg today he expected “there will be some job losses” after chancellor [...]
UK borrowing surges to £13.5bn on energy price cap support November 22, 2022 UK borrowing surged over the last year due to the government partially covering the cost of household energy bills, official figures out today reveal. The UK’s debt pile swelled £13.5bn last month, up more than £4bn compared to October 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Although high, the figure was far below [...]
UK slumps to bottom of G7 economy league next year, OECD predicts November 22, 2022 The UK economy will languish behind its rich counterparts next year amid a tough inflation surge driven by worker shortages and an “untargeted” energy support package, a new report reveals. Britain’s economy will shrink 0.4 per cent next year, the worst performance of any country in the G7, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation [...]
Exclusive: London beats European cities to continental tech crown November 22, 2022 London is the most technologically advanced city in Europe, beating Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid, exclusive research shared with City A.M. unveils. The capital’s capacity for world class innovation drove it to the top of the continental rankings in Z/Yen’s sixth smart cities index. New York topped the global rankings, again. The Square Mile’s banks, brokers [...]
FTSE 100 weighed down by China Covid-19 jitters November 21, 2022 London’s FTSE 100 was today weighed down by the re-emergence of tough restrictions to tame Covid-19 in China over the weekend. The capital’s premier index edged 0.12 per cent lower to 7,376.85 points, while the domestically-focus mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, climbed 0.68 per cent [...]
Flip flopping over tax hikes and spending cuts a ‘bruising episode’ for UK November 21, 2022 Flip flopping on UK economic policy has been “a bruising episode” for the country over the past few months, a top City economist said today. The huge swing in tax and spending decisions between former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and the current number 11 incumbent Jeremy Hunt has damaged the country’s financial credibility, according to Neil Shearing, [...]
UK ‘can’t afford’ another decade of lost growth, CBI warn November 21, 2022 The UK “can’t afford a repeat” of its severe economic underperformance since the 2008 financial crisis, the chief of the country’s top business group will warn chancellor Jeremy Hunt today. Responding to last week’s autumn statement, Tony Danker, director general of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), will slam the chancellor for failing to roll [...]
Hunt on course to miss fiscal targets despite £55bn of tightening, Deutsche Bank bet November 20, 2022 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is on course to miss his fiscal goals due to a weaker growth outlook than forecast by the UK’s budget watchdog, an investment bank has said. According to Sanjay Raja, senior economist at Deutsche Bank, the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) GDP growth forecasts are too optimistic. Last week, the OBR said [...]
Public finances in view after Hunt’s £55bn of spending cuts and tax hikes November 20, 2022 Traders will be keen to examine fresh public finances figures out this week to get a sense of the UK’s debt pile that pushed chancellor Jeremy Hunt into £55bn of spending cuts and tax hikes last week. London’s premier FTSE 100 index registered a solid performance last week, adding 0.92 per cent to close at [...]
Market reaction to autumn statement a far cry from Truss and Kwarteng’s mini-budget November 17, 2022 Financial markets largely glossed over chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s £55bn worth of tax hikes and spending cuts today, a marked change from them spitting out his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget. London’s FTSE 100 closed broadly flat, edging 0.06 per cent lower, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index bumped 0.05 per cent high. Most of the [...]