Chinese economy shows recovery December 3, 2012 The Chinese economy improved last month, according to factory surveys released yesterday. “There is growing confidence that China’s economy bottomed in July-September, with signs of firmer external demand,” said Hirokazu Yuihama, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities. Monday’s final reading of HSBC’s China manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Survey (PMI) rose to 50.5 in November from 49.5 [...]
Online retailers prepare for busiest day ever December 2, 2012 HIGH street shops and online retailers will face one of their fiercest battles yet for customers this Christmas, with today set to mark the busiest internet shopping day of the year. UK online sales will peak today – dubbed Mega Monday by City analysts – with Visa Europe expecting 6.8m transactions worth £320m to be [...]
Starbucks to donate tax to UK coffers December 2, 2012 STARBUCKS is seeking to voluntarily pay more UK corporation tax, the coffee chain said yesterday, in a victory for angry MPs and activists. But experts warned that a tax system based on public pressure on a few high-profile firms, rather than one that relies on actual changes to tax law, risks undermining investors’ faith in [...]
PwC: Stop tinkering with tax relief on pensions December 2, 2012 ANY move in the Autumn Statement to cut tax relief on pensions contributions or tax the lump sum paid on retirement could hurt savers on modest incomes and put younger workers off saving altogether, pensions analysts warned yesterday. The allowance eligible for relief used to rise with inflation, hitting £255,000 in 2010-11. But that was [...]
Osborne must now face up to his fiscal failings December 2, 2012 POLITICS can be like a yo-yo: last week, George Osborne received the best press since he became chancellor, basking in the triumph of appointing Mark Carney as Governor of the Bank of England. This week will be very different, with his Autumn Statement on Wednesday guaranteed to be the political equivalent of trying to square [...]
Osborne and Balls clash on debt progress December 2, 2012 THE chancellor yesterday conceded he will have to implement a new raft of tax hikes and spending cuts in a renewed effort to hit his deficit targets. Slow economic growth pushed government borrowing off track, with lower tax revenues and a higher benefit bill than expected. Labour’s Ed Balls argued the failure to reduce the [...]
State urged to support first time buyers December 2, 2012 GIVING support to first time buyers (FTBs) would ease the pressure on the hardest hit sector in the housing market and give a strong boost to the industry, economists from the Ernst and Young Item Club argue today. The respected analysts are calling on George Osborne to reinstate the stamp duty holiday for FTBs on [...]
What the other papers say this morning December 2, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES UK’s euro trade supremacy under fire The City of London should be deposed as the euro’s main financial centre so the single currency club can “control” most financial business in the Eurozone, France’s central bank governor has said. Christian Noyer of the Banque de France said there was “no rationale” for allowing the [...]
Shale gas plan to be unveiled by chancellor December 2, 2012 CHANCELLOR George Osborne is expected to back shale gas as the future of UK energy this week with the publication of a national plan aimed at luring potential investors to tap the UK’s shale gas stores. Osborne is set to use this week’s Autumn Statement to launch a long awaited Gas Generation Strategy to drum [...]
Benefit freeze expected in new drive to save taxpayer money December 2, 2012 GEORGE Osborne yesterday argued it is not fair that hard pressed working families struggle under squeezed incomes and high inflation while their neighbours on benefits are well paid for staying at home. Raising the prospect of a new freeze or even a round of benefit cuts in Wednesday’s Autumn Statement, the chancellor told the Andrew [...]
