Bank of England goes big with £150bn stimulus amid second lockdown November 5, 2020 The Bank of England will inject £150bn more stimulus into the UK economy to help it handle a new England-wide lockdown, and predicted that growth would go into reverse in the final three months of the year. The big increase in bond-buying – which came as the BoE left interest rates untouched at 0.1 per [...]
Bank of England to ‘look into’ suspected leak of stimulus decision November 5, 2020 The Bank of England will “look into” a suspected leak of its monetary policy decision to The Sun newspaper, which correctly reported its decision to pump £150bn into the economy before the BoE officially announced the position. There is no suggestion that The Sun acted improperly in its reporting of the story, which also said [...]
CBI predicts fourth-quarter contraction and urges long-term thinking November 5, 2020 The UK economy is likely to contract in the final three months of the year as the government’s new England-wide lockdown – put in place to slow coronavirus cases – hits businesses hard, the CBI has said. Britain’s economy faces a “bleak midwinter,” CBI chief economist Rain Newton-Smith told journalists. It came as the leading [...]
Eyes turn to the Federal Reserve as markets await US election result November 4, 2020 As markets nervously awaited the results of today’s chaotic presidential election, investors’ eyes turned to the US Federal Reserve’s meeting tomorrow. Traders were digesting the state of play so far, and seemed to think that the most likely outcome is a president who doesn’t have control of congress. It comes after President Donald Trump fared [...]
BoE brings forward rate decision ahead of Sunak’s statement on Covid support November 4, 2020 The Bank of England (BoE) has moved the announcement of its November interest rates decision forward to avoid it clashing with a statement on Covid-19 support from the chancellor. The Bank moved the announcement after Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Rishi Sunak would make a statement on the government’s coronavirus support measures to Parliament at [...]
UK services sector ‘close to stalling’ as coronavirus cases surge November 4, 2020 The recovery in the UK services sector slowed sharply in October as a surge in coronavirus cases and new restrictions knocked the economy, a survey has shown. The IHS Markit/Cips services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) – a closely followed measure of the sector’s health – fell to 51.4 in October, down heavily from 56.1 a [...]
Four things to watch as the Bank of England sets interest rates November 4, 2020 The Bank of England’s group of interest rate-setters will announce their latest monetary policy decision tomorrow, albeit virtually. Since the last meeting in September, the government has announced a new month-long lockdown for England amid soaring coronavirus cases. Most analysts expect the Bank to launch more stimulus to support the economy during the winter. Here [...]
Lockdown 2.0: A creative destruction revolution, or the death knell of innovation? November 4, 2020 So Boris Johnson has failed to follow his own government’s guidelines on cost-benefit appraisal. Study after study by economists show that the costs of lockdown far exceed the benefits. The NHS — the “envy of the world” — has conspicuously failed to develop sufficient capacity to deal with a second wave, despite having had months [...]
UK jobs market weak ahead of lockdown despite rise in vacancies November 3, 2020 The number of firms looking to add to their workforces grew in the third quarter after a historic contraction in the spring, but the UK jobs market remained weak ahead of the recently announced second lockdown, a survey has shown. In the third quarter, 37 per cent of firms attempted to recruit, according to the [...]
Boris Johnson doubles support for self-employed during new lockdown November 2, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced a doubling of support for the self-employed during England’s new coronavirus lockdown and an extension of the deadline for government-backed business loans. Johnson addressed the House of Commons this afternoon after announcing a month-long lockdown on Saturday. MPs will vote on the new measures on Wednesday, with both Labour [...]