Panic, just a little bit of panic, was enough to drive Credit Suisse off a cliff March 21, 2023 After the collapse of SVB, investors and the bank's customers were on high alert for signs of shakiness and Credit Suisse was an obvious target as fears mounted over a wider, 2008-style banking crisis, writes Comment & Features Editor Sascha O’Sullivan
OBR blames optimistic economic forecasts on ‘volatile’ environment March 20, 2023 Overly optimistic economic forecasts are down to the “very volatile” nature of the UK in recent years, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) chairman has said. The official Treasury watchdog was warned by Deutsche Bank analysts that it may have repeated its mistake of over-estimating growth figures and wiping out spending power. Speaking at a [...]
Banks, bonds, inflation, recession and energy: Five lessons the markets taught us this week March 17, 2023 The third week of March proved to be a rollercoaster for the world’s investors, with a rout on banks and the spectre of inflation, recession and the growing cost of living making their presence felt. These themes may indeed play on in future, so here are the five lessons we’ve learned from the markets this [...]
Budget: OBR says UK to avoid recession and is on course to grow every year after short blip in boost for Jeremy Hunt March 15, 2023 Britain will avoid a much-tipped recession this year and will grow every year until 2027 after a short blip, a massive reversal from economists warning of the longest contraction in a century just a few months ago, the country’s spending watchdog said today. UK GDP is on course to suffer a mild slump in 2023 [...]
CMA probes Asda’s £611m Co-op petrol station takeover deal over fears it could hike fuel prices March 14, 2023 Asda’s £611m takeover over of 132 Co-op petrol stations has come under scrutiny from the UK’s competition watchdog over concerns the deal was likely to push up fuel prices. After the supermarket snapped up the sites last October the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched a Phase 1 investigation at the start of this year [...]
NatWest imposes £1,000 daily limit on Crypto spending to protect people against ‘losing life changing sums’ March 14, 2023 NatWest imposed stricter restrictions on cryptocurrency transfers as it seeks to protect its customers after £329m was lost by UK consumers last year. The bank is implementing a daily limit of £1,000 and a 30-day payment limit of £5,000 to cryptocurrency exchanges. It is implementing the rules to “help protect customers losing life changing sums [...]
London economy steams ahead to top UK growth league and on track to avoid recession March 13, 2023 London’s economy is racing ahead of the rest of the UK and is on track to power the country’s GDP out of its current slump, new figures out today show. The capital’s purchasing managers’ index (PMI) shot up to 56 points last month, up sharply from 50.5 points and far above the 50 point threshold [...]
Recession kicked into long grass as UK steams ahead of Europe and US March 13, 2023 A recession hitting the UK economy is looking like an increasingly far flung prospect after yet more data today shows businesses and families are fending off the cost of living crunch. A net balance of 43 per cent of UK businesses are buoyant about the economy over the coming year, the highest level in a [...]
Budget: Childcare support and energy bills on Hunt’s to-do list March 12, 2023 Ending the prepayment meter penalty on energy bills and boosting childcare support for the poorest parents are among measures set to be announced in the spring budget. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt this weekend confirmed households on prepayment meters will no longer pay more than people on direct debits, as of July 2023. Energy security secretary Grant [...]
UK economy ‘bounces back’ in another signal a recession is off the table but experts warn of stagnation March 10, 2023 The UK economy “bounced back” from a sharp contraction over Christmas and is holding up better than feared in another sign the country could avoid a recession, official figures out today show. Gross domestic product (GDP) jumped 0.3 per cent in January, better than the consensus forecast of 0.1 per cent growth, according to the [...]