Home buyers warned cut in stamp duty will lead to big jump in monthly mortgage bills September 21, 2022 Home buyers could end up paying much bigger monthly mortgage bills if the government goes ahead and scraps or cuts stamp duties. Ahead of Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget on Friday, The Times reported that radical plans to cut stamp duty are in the pipeline as part of efforts to boost economic growth. Downing Street refused [...]
More sectors flash recession warning amid spending cooldown September 21, 2022 More sectors of the UK economy are flashing recession signals caused by consumers cutting spending in response to surging prices, a fresh survey published today reveals. Some 11 sectors out of the 14 tracked by Lloyds Bank recorded a slump in both demand and output last month. It is the fourth month in a row [...]
An energy cap is a start but the challenge has just begun September 21, 2022 Two days after her appointment as prime minister, Liz Truss unveiled the Energy Price Guarantee, the single largest fiscal intervention introduced in the UK in peacetime. In just over a week, household bills will be frozen at an average £2,500 per year – savings of £1,000 from Ofgem’s October price cap – for two years. [...]
London’s FTSE 100 edges higher ahead of central bank rate announcements September 20, 2022 London’s FTSE 100 slid yesterday, driven by traders bracing for a big week of central bank announcements. The capital’s premier index dropped 0.64 per cent to reach 7,190.16 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, slumped 1.48 to 18,519.69 points. The world’s biggest [...]
Liz Truss refuses to rule out scrapping the bankers’ bonus cap September 20, 2022 Liz Truss has today warned that not all her policies will be “popular” as she refuses to rule out scrapping the bankers’ bonus cap. The Prime Minister told journalists in New York that “what is important to me, what is important to the chancellor, is that people have more opportunities, there is more investment, there [...]
Exclusive: ‘Covid papered over many cracks which gave firms a false positive’, warns Leonard Curtis CEO September 20, 2022 City A.M. reported recently that millions of people across the UK are now struggling to make ends meet, with only one in ten saying they don’t have any financial concerns. And it’s not just individuals that are struggling: Rising bills are the biggest worry for UK businesses, with many concerned about the spiralling cost of [...]
US dollar this year has become the only asset in town September 20, 2022 Investors have had an insatiable appetite for US dollars this year. According to the Wall Street Journal’s dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of some of the world’s top currencies, the dollar is its strongest for over a decade. One dollar will buy you the greatest amount of Japanese yen since the [...]
Federal Reserve and Bank of England set to tighten policy once again this week September 19, 2022 The US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England this week are set to hike interest rates steeply again in a bid to chase down scorching inflation, investors are betting. The two central banks are expected to look through recession fears and continue their fight against historic price rises. Despite inflation dropping to 8.3 per [...]
City braces for BoE rate hike and mini-budget September 19, 2022 The City is bracing for a bumper week of economic data and policy announcements in a trading week shortened by the UK bank holiday for The Queen’s funeral. London’s premier FTSE 100 index posted mixed performance last week, initially jumping higher before closing 1.56 per cent lower at 7,236.68 points. Its mid-cap domestically-focused counterpart, the [...]
Childcare costing parents up to 70 per cent of total pay with huge differences across UK September 19, 2022 Childcare in England, Scotland and Wales for children under the age of two is costing some parents more than half of one person’s weekly take-home pay. In fact, in some areas, this figure climbs to a staggering 70 per cent of parents take-home pay. The analysis was shared by Business in the Community, The Prince’s [...]