Geopolitical shock: regime change in inflation and monetary policy May 24, 2022 Globalisation is besieged on multiple fronts. Two years after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and amid growing geopolitical unrest, the decades-long disinflationary headwind has reversed. Many multinationals have taken steps to address the disruptions to their ultimately brittle global value chains. These companies are re-orienting to prioritise availability over cost-optimisation. This process manifests in [...]
Cost of living crunch: Grocery price inflation hits highest level in 13 years as households struggle to pay bills May 24, 2022 Grocery price inflation has now hit the highest level since May 2009, with almost a quarter of households saying they are struggling to make ends meet. Supermarket prices have risen seven per cent over the past four weeks, according to the latest grocery sales data published by Kantar this morning. Products to see the sharpest [...]
Public sector borrowing hit £18.6bn last month, fourth-highest April since 1993 May 24, 2022 Government borrowing stood at £18.6bn last month, down by £5.6bn from a year ago, but still the fourth highest April borrowing since records began in 1993, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said this morning that, despite the fall, government borrowing was £7.9bn more than in April 2019 before the pandemic [...]
Bailey bats away claims Bank of England has fuelled inflation May 23, 2022 Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey today snapped back at criticism he and the central bank’s committee of rate setters have fuelled inflation in the UK. The governor dismissed accusations the Bank has contributed to the current living cost spike by over-flooding the UK economy with money during the Covid-19 crisis. “What I [...]
What does a weaker yen mean for investors in Japan? May 23, 2022 Changing economic circumstances could alter the market impacts of currency weakness explain experts Masaki Taketsume, George Brown and Robbie Boukhoufane. It’s a been a difficult first third of 2022 for markets generally, which is perhaps unsurprising given the many sources of uncertainty and discord in the world. A very sharp depreciation in the value of [...]
ECB’s Lagarde butters up markets for first rate hike in over a decade May 23, 2022 The European Central Bank (ECB) will hike interest rates for the first time in over a decade in July, its chief signalled today. President Christine Lagarde in a blog post on the central bank’s website said the committee of rate setters will take borrowing costs out of negative territory by September. The ECB has trailed [...]
Boris Johnson says new package to fight cost-of-living crisis is coming: ‘No option is off the table’ May 23, 2022 Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this afternoon that “no option is off the table” to deal with the rising cost of living but added “I’m not attracted, intrinsically, to new taxes” in response to pressure to introduce a windfall levy on oil and gas firms. Johnson insisted there would be further help to deal with [...]
Windfall tax talk rattles Tories as Rishi Sunak reportedly backs the levy May 22, 2022 The prospect of a windfall tax on large energy firms has provoked a fierce Tory backlash, after it was revealed yesterday Rishi Sunak is in favour of a levy.
Sunak poised to give poorest households £5-7.5bn to deal with cost-of-living crunch, Deutsche Bank says May 22, 2022 Deutsche Bank has said it expects the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak will give £5-7.5bn in support to the UK’s poorest households to help them deal with the UK’s cost-of-living crisis. The chancellor could increase universal credit payments, give money to food banks, and help poor households pay for energy bills, in a [...]
Shareholders to vote on Shell’s climate plans at upcoming AGM amid activist pressure May 22, 2022 Shareholders will vote on Shell's climate transition at the AGM next week with activists putting the energy giant under pressure to ramp up climate targets.