It’s time epidemiological models faced the same scrutiny as banks August 7, 2020 After the global financial crisis of 2009, Basel, the international standard setting body for banking regulation, conducted a thorough analysis of banks’ internal models. Banks had been allowed considerable discretion in the way in which they modelled their risks to justify the amount of capital they should hold against them. Basel’s analysts found that the [...]
Markets live: US stocks dip on stimulus fears after miners pull FTSE 100 lower August 6, 2020 The FTSE 100 sank sharply today as traders appeared to react negatively to the Bank of England’s relatively upbeat assessment of the UK economy, amid fears of a lack of fresh US stimulus. The UK index dropped 1.32 per cent to 6,024 points by 4pm, after the Bank said the economy would fall less sharply [...]
BoE governor Andrew Bailey: Some parts of economy no longer ‘viable’ August 6, 2020 Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has warned that “some parts of the economy” will not be “viable” after the coronavirus pandemic. He also backed the government’s move to end the furlough scheme in October. He said “we have to look forwards”. Bailey was speaking to broadcasters after the Bank kept interest rates on hold [...]
Weekly US jobless claims beat expectations and drop to 1.2m August 6, 2020 Slightly under 1.2m Americans made new jobless claims last week, a better-than-expected figure that will fuel hopes that the US economy’s recovery will not be derailed by coronavirus cases. Initial jobless claims came in at 1.19m last week, down from 1.44m a year earlier, the Labor Department said. The weekly total was much better than [...]
Economists question Bank of England’s ‘optimistic’ forecast August 6, 2020 The Bank of England today kept interest rates on hold and said the UK economy would not shrink as much as initially thought this year, but it said the recovery would take longer. But some economists have questioned the assumptions, arguing that high unemployment will damage the economy. The Bank said the UK economy was [...]
Bank of England: Downturn better than feared but UK faces longer recovery August 6, 2020 The Bank of England has significantly improved its prediction for the path of the UK economy this year, but said the recovery will take longer than initially expected. The Bank’s projection, released today, said the UK economy was likely to shrink by 9.5 per cent this year and then grow by nine per cent in [...]
BoE puts negative interest rates in its ‘toolbox’ for the first time August 6, 2020 The Bank of England has put negative interest rates in its “toolbox” of possible monetary policy measures for the first time, governor Andrew Bailey said today. However, Bailey cautioned that the Bank does not currently “have a plan to use them”. Read more: Bank of England says UK economy’s recovery will take longer than expected [...]
UK businesses grow at fastest rate in five years but employment drops August 5, 2020 The UK economy’s private sector rebounded at its fastest rate in five years in July, according to the final reading of a closely watched measure, as the government eased coronavirus restrictions. The IHS Markit/Cips composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) jumped to 57 in July from 47.7 in June. It was slightly lower than a “flash” [...]
Eurozone business activity grows at fastest pace in two years August 5, 2020 The Eurozone’s private sector grew at its fastest rate in over two years in July, according to survey data, with a key gauge of business activity improving slightly compared to an earlier estimate. The IHS Markit Eurozone composite purchasing managers’ index – which measures the health of the private economy – rose to 54.9 in [...]
The costs of lockdown can no longer be justified August 5, 2020 In an otherwise depressing week, two pieces of very good news emerged from India. In Mumbai, blood tests conducted by the city authorities on 6,936 randomly selected people found that some 40 per cent had coronavirus antibodies. Just 6,000 deaths have been reported so far in a city of 20 million. A similar exercise in [...]
