UK consumers are set for a big hit as inflation spikes this year February 1, 2017 Inflation is set to spike this year with the hit to consumer spending denting UK growth, according to an influential group of economists. Annual growth in the consumer price index will average 3.3 per cent in 2017, according to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr), before slowing to 2.9 per cent next [...]
Mortgage approvals hit a nine-month high in December January 31, 2017 The Bank of England's mortgage borrowing hit a nine-month high in December as the housing market recovered from the lull it experienced in the months after the Brexit vote. At 67,898, the number of mortgage approvals for house purchases increased 10.7 per cent from the low (61,335) it hit in August. Read more: I can't help but [...]
Hurting the City will hurt the EU too, experts remind MPs January 31, 2017 Attempts by other EU member states to undermine the City of London's financial crown will wind up hurting them too, banking and finance experts reminded MPs today. Representatives from influential City groups, along with deputy editor of the Telegraph Allister Heath, also told the International Trade Committee the City would need to devise a unique [...]
No change in interest rates expected by economists ahead of Superthursday January 30, 2017 The Bank of England is set to keep its interest rate at 0.25 per cent this week, economists predict, despite forecasts that inflation is creeping up. The bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) meets ahead of publishing its latest rates decision this Thursday. On the same day, the bank will publish its quarterly inflation report, making [...]
Deposit protection limit for savings to be bumped back up to £85,000 tomorrow January 29, 2017 Savers will have an extra £10,000 safeguarded as of tomorrow, as the deposit protection limit is increased back up to £85,000. The deposit protection limit under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which is designed to protect consumers' cash should lenders run into hot water, was cut to £75,000 last year in an effort to put [...]
No fireworks: Bank of England and Federal Reserve set to hold interest rates next week January 27, 2017 With both the Bank of England and the Federal Reserve set to meet it’s a big week for monetary policy, but don’t expect fireworks, economists say. Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers sparked the financial crisis, the top 50 central banks have cut rates over 700 times, according to JP Morgan. While Brexit and the [...]
Criminals made €8.6m of fake “Bin Laden” banknotes at the end of last year January 27, 2017 The European Central Bank (ECB) said it withdrew €8.6m worth of so-called "Bin Laden" banknotes in the final six months of last year. The notes, worth €500, are in the process of being phased out because of their association with money-laundering and terror – but they nevertheless made up just under five per cent of all [...]
Editor’s notes: Why did people vote Leave? Clue: It wasn’t because they’re unhappy January 27, 2017 The referendum result left a lot of people stunned and confused. Not just because a Leave vote was contrary to the predictions of pollsters and pundits, but because they couldn’t understand why anybody would want to leave the EU in the first place. In the days and weeks after the vote, the very same people who [...]
Mark Carney’s fintech critique should be a wake-up call for a sector used to plaudits January 27, 2017 The fintech sector is so used to being publicly lauded that this week’s comments by the governor of the Bank of England will have come as a shock. Despite claiming London as the fintech centre of Europe and exulting its potential, Mark Carney made clear fintech’s rise could disrupt the established financial sector – raising [...]
Mortgage lending hit a nine-month high in December January 26, 2017 Mortgage approvals hit a nine-month high in December, and overall in 2016, gross mortgage lending increased 12 per cent. Figures from the British Bankers Association show that gross mortgage borrowing increased by 3.6 per cent year-on-year in December, reaching £12.6bn, with remortgaging approvals jumping 30 per cent to their highest level since October 2008. Read more: Restaurateur [...]