UK borrowing falls ahead of spring Budget January 22, 2020 The UK government borrowed less than expected in December, official data has shown, as chancellor Sajid Javid prepares to boost spending in his March Budget. Borrowing in December was £4.8bn, less than expected and down £0.2bn compared to the same month a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Yet for the financial [...]
Exclusive: Johnson’s US trade talks team ‘set’ – and priorities are being signed off by Cabinet January 22, 2020 The UK is poised to kick off US trade talks ahead of discussions with the EU, with the negotiating team in place and priorities all but signed off, Morning Wire understands. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to fly to Washington in early February to “leverage the goodwill he has at the front end of [...]
From A&E waiting times to the Windrush scandal, beware bureaucratic targets January 22, 2020 Last week, health secretary Matt Hancock signalled an important change of strategy. Accident and Emergency Departments have a target that 95 per cent of patients should be admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours. Hancock suggested that the target will be scrapped. Instead, wait times will be determined by clinical need. Cue predictable hyperbolic outrage. [...]
Bank of England forms group to weigh up digital currency launch January 21, 2020 The Bank of England has teamed up with other major central banks to assess the case for launching their own digital currencies, it announced today, as a debate rages over the future of money. Threadneedle Street will work with the central banks of Canada, Japan, the Eurozone, Sweden, Switzerland and the Bank for International Settlements [...]
UK employment rate hits record high as Bank of England mulls cut January 21, 2020 The UK’s booming labour market showed no sign of slowing in the three months to November, according to official data, with the strongest jobs growth in nearly a year pushing the employment rate to a new record. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.8 per cent, its lowest since the 1970s, but the number of people [...]
The wheels come off: Are car sales still a bellwether for the UK economy? January 21, 2020 Route planning is always tricky. For investors, charting a path through the busy roadworks of the UK economy in 2020 can be especially hard, so markets are quick to pounce on any data that might provide a turning signal for the future. That’s why figures released earlier this month by the Society of Motor Manufacturers [...]
Business leaders call on government to lay out trade talks position January 21, 2020 UK business leaders have called on the government to lay out its objectives for trade talks with the European Union, saying they can only make investment decisions once they have a clear sense of Number 10’s position. The intervention by the Institute of Directors (IoD), which represents British company bosses, came after chancellor Sajid Javid [...]
German growth in 2019 worst since Eurozone crisis, says Bundesbank January 20, 2020 Germany’s central bank has predicted that the country’s economy grew last year at its slowest pace since the Eurozone crisis as its manufacturing sector was badly shaken by global trade tensions. The Bundesbank today estimated that Europe’s biggest economy grew by just 0.6 per cent last year. This would be the worst figure since 2013, [...]
IMF downgrades global growth forecasts despite US-China and Brexit deals January 20, 2020 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its global growth forecasts and said there are “no clear signs of a turning point” for the world economy despite the signing of a US-China trade deal and more clarity over Brexit. In the latest of a series of downgrades, the IMF said it expects global growth for [...]
UK household optimism hits one-year high but uncertainty remains January 20, 2020 UK households became more upbeat about their finances in January, a survey from data firm IHS Markit has shown, with December’s general election result and falling inflation pushing optimism to a one-year high. The survey was the latest to show rising optimism following Boris Johnson’s thumping election win in the middle of December. Firms and [...]