‘Important we enguard against doing too much’ with rate rises, Bank of England’s top economist Pill warns February 3, 2023 The chief economist of the Bank of England has cautioned that it is important the Bank does not raise borrowing costs too high. Huw Pill’s warning came a day after the central bank hiked interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 4% but indicated it could slow down recent rate-hiking activity. He told Times Radio [...]
NatWest boss U-turns on snub of Westminster committee after plea to ensure it won’t be an all-male panel February 3, 2023 The boss of NatWest has U-turned on her decision not to appear in front of MPs next week as they scrutinise the UK’s biggest banks on why savings rates are so low while borrowing costs have spiked. Dame Alison Rose, NatWest’s chief executive, came under pressure from the Treasury Committee after saying she was too [...]
The UK’s biggest mining and energy businesses may need to wean themselves off China February 3, 2023 In this guest opinion piece, Daniel Dalton, former Conservative MEP and former CEO, British Chamber of Commerce to the EU, writes that Britain’s firms need to deal with China with their eyes wide open Encouraged by successive governments, British companies have spent many years courting China, its resources and its huge, increasingly affluent population. British [...]
Another interest rate hike to boost banks’ profits, but how long will the windfall last? February 2, 2023 Bank shares prices were mixed after the Bank of England raised interest rates by 50 basis points earlier today, as the pressure on banks to pass on higher interest rates to savers grew. The more domestically focused Lloyds and Natwest were trading 1.0 per cent and 0.6 per cent higher respectively. Barclays was up 0.8 [...]
Bank of England hikes interest rates for tenth time in a row amid recession and warns of further action to tame inflation February 2, 2023 The Bank of England today hiked interest rates for the tenth time in a row amid a recession to the highest level since the financial crisis in 2008 and warned more increases may be needed to tame inflation. The nine-strong committee of rate setters that set the base level of borrowing costs in the UK [...]
Bank of England signals inflation has peaked but warns of 15-month long recession February 2, 2023 Inflation in the UK has peaked and is on course to fall rapidly over the coming year, easing the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, but a slow burning, mild recession is still a threat, the Bank of England said today. The rate of price increases is poised to more than halve from [...]
Crypto markets respond positively to softer US rate hike announcement February 2, 2023 Bitcoin is up by 3.6%, trading for $23,790 this morning, while Ethereum has jumped 6% over the same period to $1,670.
Warning of ‘marked slowdown’ in mortgage lending from Santander UK chief as bank’s profit creeps up two per cent February 2, 2023 Santander UK’s net mortgage lending climbed higher in 2022, helping to boost profits, but its CEO warned that the bank would have to navigate “a marked slowdown” in mortgage lending in 2023. The Spanish bank’s net mortgage lending increased to £9.8bn from £7.5bn last year helping pretax profit creep up two per cent. CEO Mark [...]
Christmas sales were a moment of reprieve as high streets play whac-a-mole February 2, 2023 Even the biggest retailers were severely dented by the pandemic, strikes, inflation and rising energy costs. It might be a game of whac-a-mole, but the high street is ready for another year, writes Richard Curry.
Natwest calls for stamp duty rebate to fund green home improvements February 1, 2023 The government should offer a rebate on stamp duty to fund energy efficiency plans for new homeowners, argues Natwest.