Work on residential building sites slips in May to weakest level since 2009
Britain’s housebuilders are cutting back on the construction of new homes amid signs that potential buyers are being spooked by the prospect of increases in mortgage rates over the coming months.
The latest report on the construction sector found that work on residential building sites slipped in May to the weakest level since 2009, apart from when sites were locked down during the Covid pandemic.
Continue reading...Move called ‘historic’ but agreement with Australia forecast to raise Britain’s GDP by only 0.08% by 2035
The UK’s post-Brexit trade deals with Australia and New Zealand have come into force, a moment lauded by the government as “historic” despite critics arguing they give away “far too much for far too little”.
The trade agreements – the first of those negotiated after Britain’s EU exit to enter into force – come after George Eustice, who was the environment secretary when the UK-Australia trade pact was struck in December 2021, admitted it was “not actually a very good deal” for Britain.
Continue reading...British Retail Consortium says rate fell from 15.7% to 15.4% even as rise in overall shop prices hits fresh high
Food inflation in the UK fell in May, lifting hopes that the rapid increase in grocery prices may have reached its peak after keeping the broader consumer prices index painfully high so far this year.
After more than a year of sharp increases in the price of food, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said annual food inflation eased this month from 15.7% to 15.4%, even as the overall rise in shop prices hits a fresh high.
Continue reading...The once humble, low-cost staple more than doubles in price, putting many fish and chip shops at risk
Whether it’s fried, baked or mashed, potatoes have traditionally been a low-cost staple food in the UK – but not any more.
A surge in costs is clobbering high street chippies, while in the supermarket, oven chips and the once humble baking potato are casualties of soaring grocery prices.
Continue reading...High inflation likely to push interest rates above 5% and force up mortgage and loan payments just ahead of election
Rishi Sunak has been warned the UK economy could be in recession next year as stubbornly high inflation pushes interest rates to more than 5% before the next general election.
Setting the stage for a further rise in borrowing costs on mortgages and loans for millions of households, economists predicted the Bank of England could be forced to drive Britain’s economy into a recession to tame inflation.
Continue reading...Lenders forced to raise fixed-term deals after latest inflation figure pushed swap rates upwards
Households looking for a new mortgage deal have been warned to expect 5%-plus fixed-rate deals in the coming weeks, after Wednesday’s inflation figures sent the money markets back into turmoil.
Nick Mendes, the mortgage technical manager at the broker John Charcol, said on Thursday that he doubts that there will be any two-year fixed-rate mortgages and probably few five-year deals priced at less than 5% in the coming weeks, as lenders are forced to reprice their mortgages upwards.
Continue reading...Leaders expected to form council that will discuss response if states such as Russia and China boycott trade for political reasons
The UK and other G7 countries are planning collective action against Russia and China if they threaten trade boycotts for political reasons, announcing a new body to deal with “economic coercion”.
Rishi Sunak will urge “bold and pragmatic collective action” against hostile states that stop trading with other countries when they disagree with their geopolitical decisions.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak’s Farm to Fork meeting, the first of its kind, failed to address solutions to inflation, soaring costs and food security, say attenders
Rishi Sunak’s Downing Street food summit has been described as “empty" by food and farming industry representatives, who rounded on the prime minister for failing to discuss soaring inflation or set out measures to safeguard British food production.
The Farm to Fork summit, the first meeting of its kind, brought together farmers, food producers and some of Britain’s largest supermarkets.
Continue reading...Jeremy Hunt’s freeze on allowances and thresholds will put a quarter of teachers and one-eighth of nurses in 40% income tax bracket
One in four teachers and one in eight nurses will be higher-rate taxpayers by 2027 as a result of the government’s record freeze on income tax allowances and thresholds, according to a leading thinktank.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said better-paid public sector workers will be among the almost 8 million people – one in five of all taxpayers – who will pay income tax at 40% or above as result of the Treasury’s attempt to reduce the UK’s budget deficit.
Continue reading...Report details how local people and firms helped Alisher Usmanov’s conceal immense wealth
Cyprus has received an 800-page dossier from the US government detailing sanctions breaches by local individuals and entities that are alleged to have enabled the Russian billionaire, Alisher Usmanov, to conceal his immense wealth.
As the island’s leader Nikos Christodoulides vowed to push ahead with the prosecution of law and audit firms that had aided the oligarch, Washington released documents that amounted to a toolkit to facilitate the process. At least two other dossiers are expected to follow.
Continue reading...Banks seek to calm markets as investors fear repeat of First Republic and SVB failures
[NEW]Trading in shares of the California-lender PacWest have been suspended after plummeting 42% amid wider fears about the health of the US’s regional bank sector.
PacWest had sought to calm markets on Wednesday and said it was in talks with several potential investors after its shares plummeted by as much as 60%. But the sell-off continued on Thursday and affected other regional banks.
Continue reading...Comments by Christine Lagarde come after central bank raises interest rates for seventh time in succession
The president of the European Central Bank suggested companies were taking advantage of high inflation when raising prices, after the bank raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to tackle the cost of living surge.
Christine Lagarde said wage pressures in the eurozone had strengthened, as workers try to recoup some of the purchasing power they have lost due to inflation, but hinted some firms were engaging in so-called greedflation.
Continue reading...Department is worst for publishing spending data, records show, with ministers apparently in breach of guidelines
Treasury ministers appear to have broken government guidelines by failing to publish details of their department’s spending for several months, and in some cases more than two years.
Public records show the Treasury is the worst department in Whitehall for publishing key data on what its officials are spending public funds on, despite its role overseeing spending across government.
Continue reading...Deadline of Sunday set for companies such as JPMorgan Chase to table offer for California bank whose shares have plummeted
US regulators are racing to secure the sale of California bank First Republic, which is on course to become the third American lender to fail this year, a sequence of collapses that has drawn uncomfortable parallels with the 2008 global financial crisis.
Half a dozen US banks are in the running to take over stricken First Republic, according to reports over the weekend, with leading bidders including JPMorgan Chase, Citizens Financial and PNC Financial Services.
Continue reading...Supermarket chain and consumer goods company insist they are protecting shoppers from inflation surge
Sainsbury’s and the Marmite maker Unilever have both insisted they are protecting shoppers from inflation, amid accusations that some companies are profiteering from the cost of living crisis.
“We are not profiteering in any form,” the chief executive of Unilever, Alan Jope, said as the consumer goods company insisted it was only passing on three-quarters of its increased costs to customers.
Continue reading...UK foreign secretary warns a war across Taiwan strait and likely destruction of semiconductor industry would have global effects
A Chinese invasion of Taiwan would destroy world trade, and distance would offer no protection to the inevitable catastrophic blow to the global economy, the UK’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, warned in a set piece speech on Britain’s relations with Beijing.
In remarks that differ from French president Emmanuel Macron’s attempts to distance Europe from any potential US involvement in a future conflict over Taiwan, and which firmly support continued if guarded engagement with Beijing, Cleverly said “no country could shield itself from the repercussions of a war in Taiwan”.
Continue reading...Increase to 4.5% will be last rise in current cycle, former rate-setter Michael Saunders predicts
The Bank of England is likely to increase interest rates one more time in May, to 4.5%, before inflation falls “sharply” over the rest of the year, a former rate-setter has predicted.
Michael Saunders, who was a member of the monetary policy committee until August, said the UK was nearly at a “turning point” for interest rates, which have risen sharply over the past year as policymakers tried to curb a surge in prices caused by an increase in energy costs.
Continue reading...Deal would build closer economic ties as most western states push to isolate Moscow over Ukraine
India and Russia have entered “advanced negotiations” over a free trade agreement that aims to build closer economic ties as most western governments push to isolate Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
In a development likely to add to tensions in Washington, London and EU capitals, Russia and India’s trade ministers said on Monday the two countries were in talks to strike a free trade deal.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak wants growth, but ONS figures show rising levels of inactivity because of ill-health
Unwelcome though it is for a government facing strikes by doctors and nurses in the months ahead, the message from the latest labour market figures is clear: Britain is already the sick man of Europe.
More than 2.5 million people who are economically inactive cite long-term sickness as the reason why they are not looking for a job – and the number is rising sharply.
Continue reading...Wage increases in February outstripped by rises in cost of living, as unemployment rate rises
The real value of UK workers’ pay has continued to fall at the fastest rate for more than a decade, as wage increases in February were outstripped by high inflation.
The Office for National Statistics said annual growth in average pay, excluding bonuses, held steady at 6.6% in the three months to February despite a small rise in unemployment and decline in the number of job vacancies.
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