Rail fees to soar in January August 14, 2011 TRANSPORT campaigners have warned train fares will rise by four times the rate of inflation come January thanks to government plans. Transport secretary Philip Hammond will cut the £5bn annual train subsidy and has upped the amount rail operators can increase their fares from RPI plus one to RPI plus three. The plans will see [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 14, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES FEARS RAISED AS “LACK OF CAUTION” FUELS COMMERCIAL PROPERTY VALUES Commercial real estate values have been spurred by a “lack of caution” on the back of an “astonishing” rebound in lending to the sector, according to one of the largest global fund managers. LaSalle Investment e, which manages $45bn (£27bn) of real estate [...]
Rebels in Libya breakthrough August 14, 2011 Libyan rebels raised their flag over a strategic town near Tripoli yesterday after their most dramatic advance in months cut off Muammar Gaddafi’s capital from its main link to the outside world. The swift advance on the town of Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, will deal a psychological blow to Gaddafi’s [...]
Merkel party hit by scandal August 14, 2011 German chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats suffered a setback last night when a regional leader was forced to resign over his affair with a 16-year-old girl. Christian von Boetticher announced he was stepping down as chairman of the CDU in Schleswig-Holstein state, in a further blow to Merkel’s conservatives. Boetticher had been the designated [...]
World Bank chief hits out at politicians August 14, 2011 POLITICIANS in Europe and the US must wake up to the severe loss of market confidence in their economic leadership, the head of the World Bank said last night in Australia. Recent events “have pushed us into a new danger zone,” Robert Zoellick (pictured) warned, arguing that substantial reforms to government spending commitments are required. [...]
Berlusconi faces criticism over Italian austerity plan August 14, 2011 ITALY’S second austerity package in less than a month met with a chorus of criticism a day after becoming law, with the largest union federation threatening a general strike over the “injustice” of the measures. President Giorgio Napolitano on Saturday signed the emergency decree introducing sweeping austerity measures to cut the fiscal deficit by some [...]
Central reserves step in over yen and Swiss franc August 14, 2011 SWISS and Japanese authorities are simultaneously threatening to take action to halt their currencies’ appreciations against the greenback. Japan’s finance minister, Yoshihiko Noda, pledged “bold action” over the weekend if it becomes necessary to anchor down the yen. Throughout the world investors are seeking refuge from risk amid heightening uncertainty over the global economic outlook [...]
Fears focus on volatility as markets open August 14, 2011 TRADERS will return to work this week hoping for a calmer start than last Monday, when the downgrade of the US credit rating sparked the highest levels of volatility seen in years in US and European markets. Traders were described as “shell shocked” and investors “scared and nervous” after a week in which the FTSE [...]
Billions shed from pension funds by plummeting equity stocks August 14, 2011 TUMBLING equities have hammered many pension schemes this month, a group of pensions advisers announced yesterday. An equivalent of £100bn has been added to pension deficits, with national funding levels falling by around 10 per cent in recent weeks, Bucks Consultants’ has found. And it is not just equity markets that have hit pension funds. [...]
Banks plan to buy HCL debt August 14, 2011 TWO bulge-bracket investment banks are in talks with the bank lenders to troubled medical staff provider Healthcare Locums over buying its debt pile, City A.M. has learned. The plan is the latest twist in the company’s efforts to repay £135m of debt as it struggles to unpick accounting irregularities, over which its founding chief executive [...]
