Volatile equity market swells state-owned bank’s balance sheet September 22, 2021 A strong performing equity market amid pandemic-induced volatitlity swelled the state-owned development bank’s balance sheet. The British Business Bank (BBB) extended £89bn of loans to UK businesses last year, up £80bn from last year, as businesses scrambled for credit during the pandemic. The BBB extended just £8bn in loans before the pandemic, highlighting the scale [...]
‘Quality losses’ matter more to investors than ‘quality gains’ September 21, 2021 | City Talk People dislike losses more than they like gains. Known as loss aversion, this phenomenon, or behavioural bias, serves as a cornerstone of prospect theory, developed by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky more than 40 years ago. A forthcoming paper, which I co-authored with Didem Kurt, Koen Pauwels and Shuba Srinivasan, applies this theory to product [...]
British businesses return £300m in furlough cash as spectre of Covid recedes September 21, 2021 UK businesses returned £300m in furlough cash, triggered by the spectre of Covid-19 over the British economy receding, according to official figures released today. The repayment now takes the total amount of money returned to the public coffers to £1.3bn since July last year, the Treasury said. Rishi Sunak, chancellor, said: “This Government stepped in [...]
OECD: UK muscles out G7 to top economic growth rankings September 21, 2021 The UK economy will grow the fastest among the group of the world’s richest countries, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD thinks the UK economy will expand 6.7 per cent in 2021, the highest rate of growth among the G7. The UK’s leading growth rate has been driven by [...]
National Insurance rise may ‘choke off’ investment and recruitment, business leaders warn September 20, 2021 Manufacturers are reporting an increase in business growth but warn the planned rise in National Insurance threatens to “choke off” investment and recruitment. Domestic and export orders have increased in recent months with increased optimism for the year ahead, according to manufacturers’ organisation Make UK. Manufacturing growth is now forecast to be 7.1 per cent [...]
Unease about economic outlook grows as rising prices fuel stagflation concerns September 20, 2021 The last few weeks has seen equity markets struggle to make gains of any significant size, and all the while concerns have been rising about a number of different factors. The lack of a clear narrative, whether it be positive or negative, has seen markets churn in both directions since July, with any number of [...]
Chancellor hails London tech success as capital beats European competitors again September 20, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak today hailed London’s bounce back from the pandemic as new figures show the capital is sprinting ahead of rival European tech hubs. London has attracted more venture capital investment to its startups than anywhere else in Europe and now boasts more unicorns – firms valued at more than $1bn – than France [...]
Worker shortages could last for two years September 20, 2021 Worker shortages plaguing the UK economy pose a significant long term risk to the British jobs market. Over three quarters of businesses are concerned poor access to workers will hold back the UK labour market’s competitiveness, the highest proportion on record, according to research by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) published today. Matthew Fell, [...]
Sunak to launch battle plan to cut borrowing at budget September 19, 2021 Chancellor Rishi Sunak will outline plans to put the UK’s public finances on a more sustainable path at the budget next month, according to reports. Sunak is expected to set new targets for the government to stop borrowing to fund day to day spending within three years, according to the FInancial Times. The proportion of [...]
Fed to rein in stimulus measures this year September 19, 2021 The US Federal Reserve is expected to outline its plan for reining in the wave of stimulus measures it launched in response to the Covid crisis this week. Experts are anticipating the Fed will formally recognise its intentions to reduce the pace of its bond buying programme this year after it concludes its rate setting [...]
