Bank of England mulls regulatory shake up to manage climate risks October 28, 2021 The Bank of England has taken a step closer to imposing stricter rules on banks to ensure they step up their preparedness for climate change. The Old Lady’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) said today it is mulling a shake up of capital buffer structures to manage the potential risks of global warming. It will publish [...]
Budget: Brits face flat recovery for household living standards, Sunak warned October 28, 2021 The average household could see their tax rise by thousands of pounds during Boris Johnson’s premiership, a think tank has warned, as Rishi Sunak’s Budget has the country set for a flat recovery for living standards. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the Budget would leave the overall tax burden at its highest since [...]
Budget 2021: Government to review further changes to pension schemes charge cap October 27, 2021 As part of his Autumn budget reveal today, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced that the government will further review the pension schemes charge gap, as a way to encourage schemes to invest in high-growth UK businesses. Under the plans announced today, the government will consider options to amend the scope of the charge cap so that [...]
Budget 2021: Sunak commits £46bn to railways October 27, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a further £46bn on rail investment at this year’s Budget. The money is focused predominantly on boosting connectivity across the country. The Autumn Budget and Spending Review includes £35bn directly for railway connectivity over the next three years. It is also committing £5.7bn over five years in eight city regions [...]
Budget 2021: Fiscal watchdog ramps up forecast for UK economic growth to 6.5 per cent October 27, 2021 The government’s fiscal watchdog has ramped up its forecast for the UK economy and expects it to recover to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year. Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons today, as he delivered his third budget, that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) expects the British economy to expand [...]
How’s vaccine inequality driving up global inflation? October 27, 2021 As the more highly vaccinated countries roll out Covid booster shots, other parts of the world are still struggling to get their first jab. The vaccine divide is more apparent in the emerging markets (EM). World organisations have voiced their concerns over “vaccine nationalism” whereby vaccine-exporting countries prioritise supply first for their own populations before [...]
Q&A: why are so many investors still ignoring the UK stock market? October 27, 2021 Q: Are UK shares cheap because they’re “old economy” businesses in the banking, oil and tobacco sectors? Bill Casey: When we speak to management teams of UK-listed businesses, many are pulling their hair out, complaining their shares are lowly “rated” compared to US and European-listed peers. They run good quality businesses which we don’t think have [...]
Bitcoin drops below $60k as markets cool off October 27, 2021 The price of bitcoin yesterday closed below $60,000 for the first time in almost two weeks, with two minor flash crashes on Wednesday morning seeing the largest cryptocurrency fall to as low as $58k before recovering to around the $59k level, where it’s currently changing hands. That’s down 2.5% since yesterday morning and 8.5% over [...]
All public sector workers to get pay rise after partial 2021 wage freeze October 25, 2021 Millions of public sector workers are set to get a pay rise in this week’s Budget as the UK faces increasing inflation growth. The Treasury tonight said the size of the wage increase will be determined next year after it has been given recommendations from pay review bodies. Rishi Sunak froze pay for all public [...]
This week’s Budget: An overview of the £30bn of investments announced so far October 25, 2021 More than £30bn of investment has already been revealed by the Treasury ahead of Wednesday’s Budget. Chancellor Rishi Sunak said on Sunday that “(over) the last year, I’ve been focused on delivering our plan for jobs, protecting people’s livelihoods, their incomes, their jobs”. But he said he would now be “looking to the future and [...]