Chinese buyers poised to step up search for London property February 14, 2013 CHINESE investors’ appetite for London property is expected to increase this year after the Chinese government relaxed rules on offshore investment. Savills said the recent relaxation on the investment of insurance proceeds by the Chinese Insurance Regulatory Commission could result in up to £10bn of new inward investment into London. Research published by the property [...]
MPs slate Treasury for neglect of finance management role February 14, 2013 THE PUBLIC Accounts Committee (PAC) this morning blasted the Treasury for focusing solely on its economic mission and “appearing to neglect” its role as finance ministry. Labour’s Margaret Hodge, PAC chair, accused the department, run by chancellor George Osborne, of producing “impenetrable accounts” and failing to properly oversee a proliferation of “instances of poor decision [...]
Buy to let loans grow to 12pc of market in 2012 February 14, 2013 THE BUY-TO-LET market enjoyed rapid expansion in 2012, ballooning back up towards its pre-recession peak, according to figures out yesterday. Buy-to let lending exploded 19 per cent between 2011 and last year, from £13.8bn to £16.4bn, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said. This boom saw it taking up 11.5 per cent of total gross [...]
Foreign visits to the UK creep up despite impact of Olympics February 14, 2013 THE UK enjoyed a slightly higher flow of tourists coming into the country in 2012, despite a fall in visits during the time of the Olympic and Paralympic games. Total visits to the UK crept up one per cent to 31.1m in 2012, compared to 2011, according to figures released by the Office for National [...]
CentreForum says equity could fill small business funding gap February 14, 2013 THE GOVERNMENT must slash financial taxes and cut red tape to allow small firms to fill their funding gaps by going public, a think tank said yesterday. Ending the tax and regulatory bias toward debt finance would be a massive step toward narrowing the £59bn funding gap faced by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), [...]
Japan suffers third quarter of falling output despite stimulus February 14, 2013 THE JAPANESE economy declined for the third successive quarter in the final three months of 2012, despite the impact of the first elements of radical stimulus policy. Japan’s GDP shrunk 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of the year, according to official statistics from the country’s Economic and Social Research Institute, released yesterday. This [...]
Firms criticise UK broadband February 14, 2013 Business has hit out at the state of broadband internet in the UK, in a poll carried out by the Institute of Directors (IoD). Just 57 per cent of IoD members are satisfied with download speeds on fixed lines, the survey, out this morning, revealed. Conversely, some 83 per cent of respondents said that significantly [...]
US new jobless claims fall again February 14, 2013 New claims for unemployment insurance fell again in the US, according to figures released by the Department of Labor (DoL) yesterday. New claims were 341,000 in the week ending 9 February, down 27,000 on the previous week, and 20,000 underneath where they were a year before. Total insured unemployment also fell, the DoL said, by [...]
Fitch upgrades Iceland to BBB February 14, 2013 Iceland’s debt is now investment-grade, according to a revised rating from Fitch. Citing “impressive progress in recovering from the financial crisis of 2008-09” the ratings behemoth announced yesterday evening that it was upping the north Atlantic island’s debt, as well as placing it on a stable outlook. Fitch gave the small country plaudits for a [...]
EDF seeks deal for nuclear as profits inch up February 14, 2013 FRENCH energy giant EDF yesterday reported flat earnings and investment, but surprised shareholders with a dividend increase. EDF’s UK nuclear stations produced 60 terawatt hours of energy last year, the best performance in seven years, which helped to boost sales by over 13.6 per cent to €9.7bn (£8.3bn), representing organic growth of 6.4 per cent. [...]
