Commission appointments must be signed off by the governor general. Follow live
Sorry – I am told by a couple of senators that it was “technically” 4.13am.
So expect to see a few bleary-eyed senators in the coffee lines this morning.
Continue reading...Tim Martin says Bank of England is right to ask firms to be mindful but advice should not be taken too literally
The boss of JD Wetherspoon has warned it could be “catastrophic” for pubs and restaurants to hold off raising prices as costs continue to soar, as the pub chain revealed that the “ferocious” impact of inflation has fuelled a dramatic increase in its bills.
Tim Martin said that Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, was right to warn companies to be mindful of how much they put up prices to avoid continuing to fuel an inflationary cycle, after the headline annual rate unexpectedly rose to 10.4% last month.
Continue reading...Bipartisan approach likely as Senate addresses changes to the rules governing referendums. Follow the day’s news live
Voice negotiations
The referendum machinery legislation will set up how the voice referendum will run – the machinery surruounding the vote, if you will.
We’re negotiating in good faith in the Senate that’s being led by Jane Hume who is doing an outstanding job. What we said to the government in the beginning is what we’re saying to them now and that is that we are not prepared to trash decades of referendum precedent, and not do this in a way that Australians expect us to, in their interests, for their information.
We’re asking for a pamphlet to outline the yes and no case, and we’ve talked about that. We’re asking for equal funding of the yes or no case, not the millions of dollars that may go into a public campaign on either side of this debate, but just the administration funding.
Fifty-seven per cent of the population does not want to open new coal and gas mines and I think there’s a very clear message coming through there. Secondly, no, I have got a lot of time for Jacqui Lambie, but we had an emissions trading scheme in this country and she was part of a party that voted to repeal it so let’s let’s not get too carried away with the spin here.
We’re in a climate crisis, as the UN secretary general has made clear. The decisions that we make now will reverberate for generations to come and the big decisions that we’ve got to make, do we open new coal and gas mines or not?
Continue reading...Annual rate of 102.5% is denting purchasing power, savings, economic growth and government’s chances in elections next year
Argentina’s annual inflation rate tore past 100% in February, the country’s statistics agency announced, the first time it has hit triple figures since a period of hyperinflation in 1991, over three decades ago.
Inflation over 12 months clocked in at 102.5% in the second month of the year, according to government data released on Tuesday, with a higher-than-expected 6.6% monthly rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and a 13.1% year-to-date increase.
Continue reading...Concerns that a big driver of price rises may be firms using inflation as excuse to increase profit margins
Fears that Europe’s companies are exploiting high inflation to increase their profit margins have prompted a warning from the European Central Bank that it is closely monitoring potential price gouging of consumers.
Policymakers have repeatedly called for wage restraint but concerns are mounting that a bigger driver of the wave of price rises may be companies using inflation as an excuse to increase profit margins, a trend unions have described as “greedflation”.
Continue reading...Cost of living has made more than a third of adults reconsider cooking end of week meal, survey finds
More than a third of people in the UK have cut back on cooking Sunday roasts because of the soaring cost of energy bills, according to a survey.
A total of 36% of UK adults said the cost of living crisis had made them reconsider a homemade roast dinner at the end of the week. The figure was even higher among those aged 16 to 34, with nearly half (47%) saying they have avoided cookingroasts.
Continue reading...Consumer prices rose 0.6% from December to January, up sharply from a 0.2% increase from November to December
The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge ticked higher in January, a sign that price pressures remain entrenched in the US economy and could lead the Fed to keep raising interest rates well into this year.
Friday’s report from the commerce department showed that consumer prices rose 0.6% from December to January, up sharply from a 0.2% increase from November to December. On a year-over-year basis, prices rose 5.4%, up from a 5.3% annual increase in December.
Continue reading...Falling gas prices and CPI decline could boost public finances before 2024 general election
Britain’s inflation rate could fall to below 2% by the end of the year, according to new financial industry forecasts, handing the chancellor a boost to the public finances before a general election in 2024.
Predictions that falling gas prices will accelerate the decline this year in the consumer prices index (CPI) from last month’s level of 10.1% could also support a recovery in household living standards and persuade the Bank of England to cut interest rates earlier than expected.
Continue reading...December quarter wage index rose from 3.1% to 3.3%, but 7.8% inflation indicates a 4.5% decrease in real wages
Australian salaries increased at a faster pace in the December quarter in a tight labour market, but not enough to prevent the gap with inflation widening to a record level.
The wage price index (WPI) for the final three months of 2022 came in at 3.3%, an increase on the 3.1% pace in the September quarter and the highest since the end of 2012. Economists had forecast a 3.5% increase.
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Continue reading...Economic growth forecast to be 0.8% in 2023 but households still face cost of living pressures
The EU is predicted to narrowly avoid recession as a result of a milder-than-expected energy shock, although households face difficult times ahead as cost of living pressures ease only gradually, the European Commission has said.
Economic growth for the 27 countries of the EU is forecast to be 0.8% in 2023, compared with a 0.3% projection last autumn, when fears of winter power outages and the rising cost of living ran high. In the 20-country eurozone, the economy will expand by 0.9% in 2023, boosted by a better-than-expected performance in Germany and Italy, as well as relatively stronger growth in Spain.
Continue reading...Quitting the EU has stalled business investment, making us reliant on workers who are now scarce. Hence rising wages, high inflation and increased interest rates. Result? A looming recession
Whenever Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, talks about the economy, he is forced to mention the toll taken by Brexit.
Business leaders, initially reluctant to criticise the Tory decision to quit the EU, have begun to find their voice. Most recently, leading City figure Guy Hands called Brexit a “complete disaster” and a “bunch of total lies” that has harmed large parts of the economy.
Continue reading...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...Differing experts have urged the Monetary Policy Committee to both cut interest rates and to raise them
Turn up. Take the temperature of the economy. Raise interest rates. That’s the been the pattern from the responsible technocrats at the Bank of England for more than a year now – and they show no sign of stopping.
Between the depths of the global financial crisis in March 2009 and the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, interest rates were changed only five times, and three of those were in response to unexpected shocks: one after the Brexit vote in 2016, and two at the arrival of the pandemic in 2020. There was one period of more than seven years when interest rates were pegged at 0.5%.
Continue reading...Cabinet told about bleak outlook for governing party at next general elections at Chequers awayday
The Conservatives must “relentlessly focus” on inflation and the NHS if they are to have a chance at the next election, cabinet ministers have been told.
Rishi Sunak gathered ministers at his country retreat Chequers on Thursday for a midday political cabinet – where a number of ministers gave presentations on the government’s key priorities and took a fresh look at the strategy for the next election.
Continue reading...The worst of the current inflationary cycle may be behind us, but the pain is probably not over for many households
When normally well-to-do shoppers of inner-west Sydney start trimming spending on fruit and vegetables, it’s a hint that households everywhere are feeling the pinch.
“Now people are really conserving what they are spending on,” said Yousef Lakda, owner of the Nature Spot greengrocer in Rozelle. “They walk in, they check your prices and they walk out and go and compare the prices … it wasn’t [like that] before.”
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Continue reading...Richest have gained similar amount over same period, reflecting differing impacts of inflation
The UK’s least affluent households have almost £40 a month less spare cash than they did a year ago while the richest have gained a similar sum in the same period, according to figures exposing how inflation has hit the poorest the hardest.
The wealthiest 20% of households had £36 a month more in discretionary income in December compared with a year before, as they enjoyed record earnings growth which offset rising energy and food bills, analysts at Retail Economics found.
Continue reading...Bank of England must proceed with caution as households are still cutting back and business confidence is weak
There is hope for households across Britain that inflation, finally, has peaked. After hitting a 41-year high of more than 11% in October as energy bills soared, the fall in the annual inflation rate in December for a second consecutive month will come as a relief.
However, prices remain high and are still rising fast. Lower inflation rates do not mean prices are falling for consumers; it is just that they are not rising quite as fast as a month ago. The cost of living crisis may be fading but it is very far from over.
Continue reading...Consumer prices rose 7.3% in the year to November, boosting the chances of another RBA interest rate rise in February
Australia’s economy was resilient towards the end of last year, with job vacancies and retail sales holding up, even as the World Bank joined other agencies to slash the outlook for growth in 2023.
Data for November, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday, showed consumer price inflation picked up in the month while the number of firms advertising for staff increased and consumers set fresh records for retail spending.
Continue reading...PM plans a ‘no tricks’ reset but with an inflation fall already expected this is more about hanging on at an election
In his first big speech since taking over at No 10, Rishi Sunak promised “no tricks, no ambiguity” as he announced his five promises to reset the government after a difficult year.
The prime minister said he would be focusing on halving inflation, growing the economy, reducing debt, cutting NHS waiting lists, and stopping small-boat crossings to the UK.
Continue reading...Almost every facet of life in the UK – courts to cost of living, transport to healthcare, environment to asylum system – is at breaking point
In mid-November Rishi Sunak was asked in a Channel 4 interview to name one public service that “was working, adequately, working properly”.
The prime minister didn’t give a direct answer. But the exchange feeds into an ever-more-common discourse: that the UK is facing “polycrisis” in almost every facet of life in Britain. From courts to the cost of living, transport to healthcare, environment to the asylum system – everywhere appears to be affected.
Continue reading...