What are negative interest rates and will the UK turn to them? May 22, 2020 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey this week said he has changed his mind on negative interest rates, saying the BoE is keeping them under “active review”. President Donald Trump has repeatedly made clear that he is a fan of negative rates, and wants the US to have them as it deals with the coronavirus [...]
Covid-19: the inescapable truths faced by investors May 22, 2020 Investors will need to be more agile than ever as Covid-19 reinforces many of the trends driving the world economy prior to the outbreak. “At the beginning of the plague, when there was now no more hope but that the whole city would be visited; when all that had friends or estates in the country [...]
Why’s everyone talking about Italy (again)? May 22, 2020 Italy went into this crisis in a more precarious situation than most. Here Senior European Economist and Strategist Azad Zangana explains why. This is going to be the deepest recession for the eurozone economy in modern times. Just as Italy has been one of the hardest hit nations in the Covid-19 crisis, there are fears [...]
Austerity architect George Osborne: UK faces ‘hard choices’ after borrowing surge May 22, 2020 Former chancellor George Osborne has said the government will in the next “two or three years” need to lay out a plan to “bring balance” to the budget, after data showed that borrowing soared in April. Osborne sharply divided opinion in the UK as the primary architect of post-2008 austerity, which slashed spending in an [...]
Government borrowing hits record £62bn in April over coronavirus measures May 22, 2020 UK government borrowing rose by a record £62.1bn in April alone as the government paid people’s wages and loaned businesses cash to survive the coronavirus lockdown, statistics showed today. Coronavirus measures like the job retention scheme to pay people’s wages and coronavirus loans for businesses pushed UK borrowing to the all-time high last month. The [...]
Bank of England deputy warns of risks to BoE’s upbeat forecast May 22, 2020 Bank of England deputy governor Dave Ramsden has warned that there could be some “scarring” to the economy after coronavirus as he stressed that the path to recovery is hugely uncertain. Ramsden also said that the Bank still has “quite a lot of headroom” to buy more bonds and echoed governor Andrew Bailey in saying [...]
London’s businesses still need more help May 22, 2020 More than two months since lockdown began, large parts of the capital’s vibrant and thriving economy remain on ice. In particular, the leisure, cultural and hospitality sectors, which are a cornerstone of our city’s success, are at the sharp end of the crisis. Our buzzing night-time economy is on hold: the pubs, clubs and restaurants [...]
There remains plenty for London to be optimistic about May 22, 2020 Back in January, I wrote that the City of London has much to be optimistic about. As a Hong Kong-based investor with close ties to the UK, I could see that the British people’s decision to leave the EU would have little material impact on its future success. I believed that the foundations were strong [...]
Easyjet to restart flights from 15 June, passengers to wear face masks May 21, 2020 Easyjet today committed to restarting some domestic flights from 15 June, with all passengers and crew required to wear face masks. The budget airline will resume a “small number” of flights mainly on domestic routes in the UK and France where “there is sufficient customer demand to support profitable flying”. Easyjet said it plans to [...]
Aviva estimates covid-19 impact at £160m May 21, 2020 Insurer Aviva today estimated the total payout it will have to make because of covid-19 at £160m net of reinsurance. Aviva said the estimate was based on estimated claims in business interruption insurance, other commercial lines and travel insurance. The insurer said the coronavirus pandemic “provides unprecedented uncertainty” and “may adversely impact our results”. Aviva [...]