Higher interest rates and rebounding loan demand to boost UK banks February 10, 2022 A higher interest rate environment and a rebound in loan demand is set to boost Britain’s biggest lenders. UK banks’ net interest margins will widen on the Bank of England and the world’s biggest central banks launching a rate hike cycle this year to tame inflation, analysts are betting. Final quarter earnings for UK banks [...]
SMEs need support February 10, 2022 Since April 2020, as the pandemic started to truly bite, we’ve been getting regular feedback from our UK members about the financial outlook of their SME clients through our monthly ACCA UK and Corporate Finance Network SME Recovery Tracker. The data provides an insightful picture of the ups and downs for SMEs. We’ve seen how [...]
Bailey’s wage dilemma is real, but the Bank has dragged its feet on inflation February 10, 2022 It is often argued the signal central banks’ bond buying programmes send to markets is more effective at shaping financial conditions than the purchases themselves. It is all about influencing expectations by sending the message that monetary policy will stay loose. Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey’s message to workers to temper pay [...]
Inflation crunch to intensify as wave of firms hike prices to survive cost assault February 10, 2022 A cost assault is forcing businesses to hike prices to protect margins in a sign the UK cost of living crisis is set to get worse before it gets better, reveals a new study published today. Around three in four firms are raising prices to weather soaring energy and staffing costs in what is being [...]
Persistent labour crunch intensifies pay pressures in sign of sticky inflation February 10, 2022 A shallower pool of available workers and growing calls among staff for employers to lift pay to offset the cost of living crunch is stoking wage tension in the jobs market, reveals fresh figures released today. Intensifying pay pressures in the jobs markets adds to the growing body of evidence indicating historically high inflation could [...]
Letters: Bailey and Boris need to talk February 10, 2022 [Re: Boris Johnson lashes out at Andrew Bailey: Do not show pay restraint, Feb 5] Boris Johnson’s vocal disagreement with Andrew Bailey last week was quite a startling development. The Prime Minister was right to distance himself from the comments made by Bailey, which lacked any empathy for the plight of people trying to make [...]
Bank of England chief wonk backs ‘steady handed’ approach to rate hikes February 9, 2022 The chief wonk at the Bank of England today backed a “steady handed” approach to rate hikes despite a projected more than seven per cent inflation peak. Huw Pill, the Bank’s chief economist and successor to Andy Haldane, said the Bank needs to hold fire on pursuing an “activist” approach to tightening monetary policy. Pill’s [...]
CBDC pilot: Payments industry group to launch trial for UK digital currency February 9, 2022 A consortium of businesses from within the payments industry is launching a CBDC pilot to support the development of a digital pound.
Hunting for “10 baggers” – how the UK beat the US February 9, 2022 The ups and downs of US technology stocks dominate headlines. Before this year’s tech correction it would have been hard to miss the news, for instance, that Apple’s market capitalisation had exceeded $3 trillion. That was not too far short of the entire value of the UK stock market. What is less well known, however, [...]
More economists warn of cost of living crunch’s drag on UK growth February 8, 2022 The squeeze on households’ living standards from the cost of living crunch will drag on the UK economy this year, reveals fresh forecasts published today. A triple whammy of Inflation topping seven per cent, a heavier tax burden and swelling energy bills is set to erode consumers’ real incomes, prompting a pull back in spending, [...]