Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and chief wonk Huw Pill admit they botched inflation forecasts May 23, 2023 Top officials at the Bank of England today admitted they have undershot the strength of inflation, with governor Andrew Bailey confessing the central bank has some “very big” lessons to learn over how it sets interest rates. MPs on the influential treasury select committee slammed members of the monetary policy committee (MPC) for failing to [...]
Britain still on track to dodge a recession this year but inflation returns May 23, 2023 Britain is still on track to avoid a recession in 2023 driven by consumer spending holding up amid a tough cost of living crisis, a closely watched survey out today shows. S&P Global and the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply’s composite purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for May hit 53.9 points. While the number was [...]
Sadiq Khan hosts crunch business talks with City figures May 23, 2023 Sadiq Khan has warned London’s businesses are facing “the most difficult period in living memory” as a result of Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and the inflation crisis. The Mayor of London has called for the government to devolve some immigration powers to City Hall as a means of tackling regional labour shortages sparked by the [...]
UK inflation poised to slip out of the double digits to lowest level in over a year May 22, 2023 UK inflation is poised to tumble to its lowest level in over a year in what is expected to begin a steady descent from its multi-decade highs, new figures out this week are likely to reveal. The rate of price increases in April is tipped to have dropped markedly to 8.2 per cent last month, [...]
House prices surge at fastest pace this year to record £373k despite Bank of England rate hikes May 22, 2023 Britain avoiding a much-forecasted recession has helped push house prices up by the greatest amount so far this year to a record high of £372,894, new figures out today reveal. The average price of a home coming to market climbed 1.8 per cent over the last month, the strongest increase in 2023, according to property [...]
Britain firmly on path away from recession as hiring and growth ramp up May 19, 2023 Britain seems almost certain to dodge a recession this year as two new surveys out today reveal businesses are hiring at the strongest pace in half a year and families are upbeat about their finances. Numbers from Lloyds Bank show nearly every sector of the UK economy stepped up headcount last month. Hiring was led [...]
Sunak insists he will bring down taxes when inflation cools May 18, 2023 Rishi Sunak has insisted he will bring down taxes when inflation cools and claimed the economy is defying expectations. It comes after economists warned one in five people will be paying the higher rate of tax under his policies. The Prime Minister said the nation’s finances are receiving boosts from the departure from the EU, [...]
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey warns of uncertainty over inflation drop May 17, 2023 The risk of inflation staying higher for longer than the Bank of England’s two per cent target than it expects is mounting due to the slow reduction of wage pressures and price rises, the Governor of the central bank warned today. Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) annual conference, Andrew Bailey warned the [...]
Jeremy Hunt: UK not ‘in a position’ to know if it can cut taxes before election May 17, 2023 The government is currently not “in a position to know whether we’re going to have any headroom at all” to cut taxes in the run up to the next election, Jeremy Hunt claimed today. Speaking at the British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) annual conference, the Chancellor said he and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “have our [...]
The Notebook: Susannah Streeter talks Brits’ love of brands, ready meals and Eurovision May 16, 2023 The notebook is a place for interesting people to say interesting things. Today, it’s the turn of former journalist and now Hargreaves Lansdown’s head of money and markets Susannah Streeter. Our love of big brands helps fuel inflation fires Brand power is the much-lauded virtue of the world’s most successful companies. But this much-admired characteristic is partly [...]
