Bank of England’s interest rate rise at noon: Brokers and agents across the City give their two cents August 4, 2022 The governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, and the rest of the monetary policy committee will hike interest rates 50 basis points today at 12pm. The main reason? Living costs are up 9.4 per cent over the last year, crimping households and businesses and threatening to plunge the UK economy into recession. Energy [...]
D-Day in the City: Bank of England set to make history today by raising interest rates by record 50bps August 4, 2022 Today the Bank of England could make history by raising interest rates by 50bps for the first time since the Monetary Policy Committee was set up back in 1997. In June, the vote was a split decision, and it is quite likely that this one could be too. Then, three members of the MPC voted [...]
UK inflation to surge above 15 per cent, more than seven times Bank of England target August 4, 2022 The Bank of England faces the grim prospect of overseeing the largest inflation surge in recent memory, with prices rising more than seven times faster than its target, a top think tank warned today. A sustained surge in energy costs triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a sudden burst in demand after the Covid-19 [...]
Sunak launches fresh attack on Truss’s tax cut plans warning Brits will face higher mortgage payments August 4, 2022 Ahead of the Tory leadership hopefuls next debate in their quest to become prime minister, Rishi Sunak launched a fresh attack on Liz Truss’s plans for tax cuts. The former chancellor said his Foreign Secretary rival in the Tory leadership race would further drive up interest rates, raising mortgage payments, with her plans. His warning [...]
Sunak and Truss’s room for tax cuts is ‘limited’, OECD warns August 3, 2022 Tory leadership hopefuls Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak’s room to cut taxes is limited, a top global economic institution said today. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said an ageing society and the need to boost public sector investment to lift growth will keep government spending higher for decades, limiting “the scope for [...]
UK is ‘card fraud capital of Europe’, warns top think tank August 3, 2022 The UK is the 'card fraud capital of Europe' with Brits falling foul of scammers at a higher rate and bigger cost than any other country, a top think tank warned today.
Sheepish consumers deal blow to UK services economy August 3, 2022 Consumers cutting spending in response to a historic inflation surge has weighed on growth in the UK’s services economy, reveals a closely watched survey published today. Brits are being squeezed by soaring living costs eroding their incomes, prompting them to cut unnecessary spending to protect their finances. As a result, growth in the services industry [...]
Threat of stagflation returns for first time since 1970s as UK enters early stage of drawn-out recession August 3, 2022 The UK is in the early stages of a drawn out recession that will tip millions of households into financial crisis, reveals fresh forecasts published today. An inflation surge driven by an unprecedented rise in energy bills will steer the economy into recession this quarter and keep it there until early months of next year, [...]
Bank of England to rip up history books at this week’s rate decision August 3, 2022 Soaring inflation will force the Bank of England to do something it has never done since it was made independent 25 years ago, City economists are betting. Governor Andrew Bailey and the rest of the monetary policy committee (MPC) will hike interest rates 50 basis points this Thursday. The move would also mark the sixth [...]
Nervous homeowners on edge as mortgage rates hit highest level since 2016 with market fading fast August 2, 2022 The latest Bank of England data found last week that net borrowing of mortgage debt by individuals decreased to £5.3bn in June, from £8bn in May. Approvals for house purchases, an indicator of future borrowing, decreased to 63,700 in June, from 65,700 in May, which is below the 12-month pre-pandemic average up to February 2020 [...]