Index rises to 7934.30, pushing it above previous record set on 3 February
The UK’s blue-chip shares index has hit a fresh all-time high, only days after a previous record was set last Friday.
The FTSE 100 index rose by almost 1% on Wednesday morning to hit 7934.30 points, surpassing the former high of 7,906.58 points set on 3 February.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Forecasts predict exports will fall to £707bn next year and target will not be reached until 2035
Ministers have been accused of leaving a “record of failure and broken promises” as internal forecasts show Britain will be 15 years late in achieving its £1tn annual export target after being hit by Brexit.
Projections from the Department for International Trade (DIT) show the value of UK exports will not reach £1tn until 2035, based on current trends, with the total due to fall to £707bn next year.
Continue reading...Campaigners say bank should rush to rescue countries facing recession – but can it do so without resulting in mass debt write-offs?
Not since the early 1990s has the world faced such a period of low growth.
Discounting the havoc caused by the financial crash of 2008 and the initial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Bank says that by the end of 2024 it will have been 30 years since the global economy grew at an average of less than 2% a year.
Continue reading...Exclusive: 182 experts say only debt cancellation offers chance of recovery but private investors are playing hardball
Some of the world’s most powerful hedge funds and other investors are holding up vital help for crisis-hit Sri Lanka by their hardline stance in debt-relief negotiations after the Asian country’s $51bn (£42bn) default last year, according to 182 economists and development experts from around the world.
In a statement released to the Guardian on Sunday, the group said extensive debt cancellation was needed to give the economy a chance of recovery and that Sri Lanka would be a test case of the willingness of the international community to tackle a looming global debt crisis.
Continue reading...Soldiers’ boots are made from imported Indian leather as country’s trade with Russia soars by 400%
Indian companies have been accused of enabling Russia’s war effort after exporting leather to Russian companies that make boots for its military in the months since the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia and India have longstanding ties and Narendra Modi’s government has not joined western countries in openly criticising Moscow over the war nor stopped Indian companies trading with Russia.
Continue reading...Analysts says lifting of many rules may soften impact of higher interest rates and unblock supply chains in 2023
China’s decision to ease rules on travel in and out of the country, the world’s second-largest economy, has offered investors hope that it could soften the toll from higher interest rates on global stock markets and unblock supply chains amid a dark outlook for 2023.
Chinese authorities said late on Monday that inbound travellers would not have to quarantine on arrival, from 8 January onward. The announcement marked the latest in a series of steps to reopen the country, which is home to vital global supply chains and 1.4 billion people.
Continue reading...Figure includes agreements rolled over from before leaving EU, and description of ‘new trade’ is misleading says UKSA chief
The official statistics watchdog has reprimanded the Conservatives for claiming the UK had secured £800bn in “new free trade deals” since leaving the EU, saying the figure includes deals rolled over from before Brexit.
The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) said it had written to the Tories about the infographic, shared last month by Michael Gove among others, also warning that the party should provide sources for such figures in the future.
Continue reading...Sydney sneaks into Top 10 as rising energy prices send inflation soaring globally, Economist Intelligence Unit survey finds
New York was the world’s most expensive metropolis in 2022, sharing the unwanted title with Singapore, as soaring energy prices doubled the inflation rate across the major global cities, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s annual survey.
Last year’s leader Tel Aviv dropped to third, while Sydney snuck into the Top 10 and Moscow and St Petersberg in Russia scaled the rankings by as much as 88 places as sanctions and buoyant oil prices propelled prices higher, the EIU’s Worldwide Cost of Living report found.
Continue reading...The economic outlook for China is not good however its leaders respond to anti-lockdown protests
For much of the world there has been hope for some time that the worst economic shocks from the Covid pandemic are in the rearview mirror. In China, however, there are important reminders that risks to the world economy still remain.
Three years since the virus first spread, protests in several Chinese cities against the Beijing government’s strict zero-Covid policies have reignited concerns in financial markets over the economic costs of the pandemic. Global oil prices have fallen back, while the Chinese yuan and stock markets across Asia have taken a hammering.
Continue reading...Most countries’ forecasts cut as Ukraine war prompts ‘largest energy crisis since the 1970s’
The UK will be the second weakest performer of the world’s big economies next year as the global economy continues to suffer the knock-on effects of the biggest energy shock in four decades, a leading international institution has warned.
The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said only Russia of the members of the G20 group of leading developed and developing nations would suffer a bigger contraction than Britain in 2023.
Continue reading...Communique unlikely to stretch beyond usual platitudes despite the need for a global plan for recovery
The Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, was struck down by Covid, the Argentinian prime minister, Alberto Fernández, had gastroenteritis and the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, either did or did not have chest pains that sent him to hospital. Given that Indonesia’s G20 slogan plastered all around Bali says: “Recover Together, Recover Stronger”, it was not an auspicious performance by the world’s leaders.
Unfortunately, there is precious little sign of recovery at the G20, either at a political or economic level.
Continue reading...Former US vice-president says bank should refocus its spending and end its role in ‘fossil fuel colonialism’
Fundamental reform of the World Bank could be completed within a year, to refocus its spending on the climate crisis and end its contribution to “fossil fuel colonialism”, according to the former US vice-president Al Gore.
“I don’t know why it need take longer than a year,” said Gore, a longtime campaigner on the climate crisis since leaving politics, in an interview with the Guardian at the Cop27 UN climate summit. “We have an emergency on our hands.”
Continue reading...Disagreements have opened up about strategy when China is also seen as an existential threat
Western powers in the G7 group of nations are failing to coordinate their China strategies, senior western officials admit, adding that the need to do so has been given sharp impetus by Xi Jinping’s consolidation of power at this month’s Communist party congress.
The G7’s poor coordination reflects a deep disagreement, also reflected within the EU, about whether dialogue and trade with China have a future if Beijing is seen as an existential threat that requires strict strategic controls on economic ties.
Continue reading...Chief executive says territory will ‘trawl world for talent’ after lockdowns and political unrest cause brain drain
Hong Kong has unveiled a HK$30bn ($3.8bn) co-investment fund to attract overseas businesses back to the city after an exodus of talent prompted by strict lockdowns and a tumultuous political climate.
A raft of measures to address the brain drain were announced by Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, in his first policy address on Wednesday – although his plans have largely failed to reassure investors.
Continue reading...Janet Yellen’s comments come as figures show business activity declining across most UK regions
The world’s biggest oil-producing nations cutting production at a time of soaring energy costs is “unhelpful and unwise” for global economic growth, the US Treasury secretary has warned, amid intense pressure from sky-high inflation.
Ahead of meetings hosted by the International Monetary Fund in Washington this week, Janet Yellen said the move by Opec+ – the oil production cartel led by Saudi Arabia, plus Russia – risked undermining the world economy.
Continue reading...Cartel curbs production by 2m barrels a day despite strong US pressure, further squeezing supplies
The Opec oil cartel and its allies have agreed to a bigger than expected cut in oil production targets despite significant pressure from the US.
The Opec+ group of oil-producing nations signed up to a cut in output of 2m barrels a day, surpassing predictions earlier in the week of cuts of 1m to 1.5m barrels, squeezing supplies in a tight market.
Continue reading...Kyiv economy will contract by 35% in 2022, compared with a 4.5% fall in Russian GDP
Ukraine’s economy will shrink at a rate eight times that of Russia this year as a result of the war triggered by Moscow’s invasion in February, the World Bank has estimated.
In its latest report on Europe and central Asia, the Washington-based institution said the Ukrainian economy would contract by 35% in 2022, compared with a 4.5% fall in Russian GDP.
Continue reading...East Asia and Pacific annual growth forecasts downgraded from 5% to 3.2% as China’s economy cools, largely due to zero-Covid policy
Covid-zero policies and the housing market crisis have put China’s economic growth behind the rest of the Asia-Pacific region for the first time in more than 30 years, according to World Bank forecasts.
In a biannual report released on Tuesday, the US-based institution said the annual growth outlook for East Asia and the Pacific region had been downgraded from 5% to 3.2%. However much of that decline was down to economic woes in China, which constitute’s 86% of the region’s economic output.
Continue reading...Study says global economy is in steepest slowdown after a post-recession recovery since 1970
The world may be edging toward a global recession as central banks simultaneously raise interest rates to combat persistent inflation, the World Bank has warned.
The three largest economies, – the US, China and the eurozone – have been slowing sharply, and even a “moderate hit to the global economy over the next year could tip it into recession”, the bank said in a study.
Continue reading...Ren Zhengfei writes in leaked memo that ‘chill will be felt by everyone’ and company must focus on survival
The founder of Huawei has delivered a stark warning for the tech company’s future, sparking alarm with the frankness of his assessment and what it signals for smaller businesses amid China’s economic troubles and a global downturn.
In a leaked internal memo, Ren Zhengfei told Huawei staff “the chill will be felt by everyone” and the company must focus on profit over cashflow and expansion if it is to survive the next three years, indicating further job cuts and divestments.
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