HOLD: Hands off interest rates, City A.M.’s Shadow MPC tells Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee March 15, 2017 Economists expect the Bank of England to leave monetary policy unchanged at tomorrow’s meeting of senior policymakers, but pressure is slowly growing to begin pushing monetary policy back to more normal levels. City A.M.’s Shadow Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted in favour of keeping policy unchanged, but added another dissenter since February's meeting pushing for [...]
Rejoice? Unemployment hits its lowest since 1975 – but the experts aren’t so happy March 15, 2017 Unemployment in hit its lowest level since 1975 in the three months to January while the rate of working-age adults employed stayed at record highs. However, weaker wage growth at a time inflation is rising has given economists – and sterling – pause for thought. The government was cock-a-hoop. Damian Hinds, minister for employment said [...]
Pound reverses gains as wage growth falls – but unemployment in the UK reaches lowest level since 1975 March 15, 2017 The rate of unemployed people in the UK has fallen to its joint lowest level since 1975 as the rate of people in employment in the UK stayed at record highs in the three months to January. Unemployment fell to a four-decade low of 4.7 per cent of the work force, down from 5.1 per [...]
Leaked tax returns: Four things we learned about US President Donald Trump’s income March 15, 2017 US President Donald Trump paid $38m (£31m) in taxes on income of $150m (£123m) in 2005, according to leaked copies of his tax return. Two pages of what are purported to be Trump’s tax return were sent in the post to David Cay Johnston, founder of the website DCReport.org, and reported by MSNBC. The White [...]
Government reduces its stake in Lloyds bank to below three per cent March 15, 2017 The government’s stake in Lloyds has fallen below three per cent, the bank announced this morning in a regulatory filing. The new sell-off marks the next stage in the government’s efforts to re-privatise the bank, which was bailed out in the global financial crisis. The Treasury said the sale means the government has recovered £19.5bn [...]
IMF “encouraged” by strong UK growth, Christine Lagarde says March 14, 2017 The UK’s growth in recent months has been “encouraging”, contributing towards healthier prospects for the world economy, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Christine Lagarde said the IMF is “especially encouraged by stronger-than-expected economic activity in the Euro area, the United Kingdom, and Japan.” The outperformance of the UK was one [...]
Federal Reserve meeting: What the experts expect Janet Yellen to do on US interest rates March 14, 2017 The Federal Reserve is almost universally expected to raise interest rates at its Wednesday meeting, in only the third rise since the financial crisis. Policymakers have laid the ground for a rate rise for markets. Janet Yellen, chair of the Federal Open Market Committee, recently said a hike would be "appropriate soon." The Federal Reserve [...]
Britain’s savings have undergone a “radical change” under the Conservative government says the IFS March 14, 2017 The savings landscape in the UK has undergone a “radical change” under the Conservative government as incentives push people towards individual savings accounts (Isas) rather than pensions, according to an influential economics think tank. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), said: “We’ve had quite a radical change in the shape of [...]
Crude oil prices take a further hit as Saudi Arabia reports a rise in production in Opec report March 14, 2017 The price of crude oil has dropped sharply after a report by the oil producers’ cartel showed rising volumes being extracted in Saudi Arabia. Production of crude oil by Saudi Arabia rose by 263,000 barrels per day in February compared to the month before, according to the directly communicated figures reported in the monthly report [...]
Charlotte Hogg’s resignation letter to the Bank of England in full March 14, 2017 Charlotte Hogg has resigned from the Bank of England after the Treasury select committee said her failure to inform the Bank about her brother's job meant she was not competent to be deputy governor. Here's her resignation letter to Bank governor Mark Carney and chair of the Bank's supervisory Court in full: Dear Mark [...]
