FCA says 12 million people in UK will struggle to pay bills October 22, 2020 Some 12 million people in Britain are likely to struggle with bills or loan repayments amid the continued economic disruption triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said. A survey by the watchdog found that 12 million people in the UK had low financial resilience, and that two million of those people [...]
AJ Bell assets reach £56.5bn as new customers flock to platform October 22, 2020 AJ Bell’s (AJB) total assets under management rose to over £56bn as customers flocked to its broer platform amid the continued market volatility. In a trading update, the investment platform said total AUM had increased eight per cent to £56.6bn, up from £54.3bn at the end of June and £52.3bn in September 2019. The rise [...]
BoE deputy says the ‘time is not right’ for negative interest rates October 21, 2020 High levels of economic uncertainty and a bruised banking system mean now is not the time to experiment with negative interest rates, a deputy governor of the Bank of England has said. Sir Dave Ramsden today struck a more cautious tone on the novel monetary policy than his colleague Gertjan Vlieghe did yesterday. Vlieghe said [...]
UK public borrowing unexpectedly picks up to hit record £209bn this year October 21, 2020 UK government borrowing rose unexpectedly in September, pushing the budget deficit to a new record high of just under £210bn and the total debt pile to its biggest level as a proportion of GDP since 1960. The government borrowed £36.1bn last month, according to the Office for National Statistics’s (ONS) best estimate. That comfortably beat [...]
UK investors most downbeat in world on own economy October 21, 2020 UK investors are more downbeat about the short-term prospects for their own economy than their global peers, according to new research. Some 43 per cent of UK investors surveyed by UBS in the third quarter said they were optimistic about their own region’s economy over the next 12 months. While the figure represents a three [...]
UK inflation climbs to 0.5 per cent after Eat Out to Help Out scheme ends October 21, 2020 UK inflation climbed to 0.5 per cent last month as restaurants and cafes hiked their prices following the end of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme. The headline rate of inflation on the ONS consumer price index (CPI), which tracks the prices of goods and services, came in at 0.5 per cent in September, [...]
Exclusive: London restaurant spend topped 2019 before new restrictions October 21, 2020 Spending at restaurants, pubs and bars in London climbed above 2019 levels for the first time during the coronavirus pandemic before new restrictions were put in place, data provided exclusively to City A.M has shown. Food and beverage spending was 1.7 per cent higher in September than a year earlier, according to Fable Data, which [...]
The government must take back control of the Covid narrative October 21, 2020 The word “narrative” is usually seen as being a posh way of saying “story”. But the idea of narratives is one which is gaining traction in economics. Last year, for example, Nobel laureate Robert Shiller of Yale published a book entitled “Narrative Economics”. He argued that it is the perception of events and the stories [...]
FTSE 100 drops as pound surges and Covid worries grow October 21, 2020 The FTSE 100 dropped as investors worried over new coronavirus restrictions and the pound soared amid hopes of a Brexit deal, hurting firms’ overseas earnings. London’s blue-chip index opened flat but had tumbled 1.3 per cent by late morning to 5,814 points. The FTSE 250 was down 0.3 per cent. Read more: UK inflation climbs [...]
UK dividend drought continues into third quarter October 21, 2020 The collapse of corporate dividends this year continued into the third quarter, as payouts slumped by nearly half to £18bn. Companies have scrambled to conserve cash amid the crisis, and the 49 per cent drop last quarter represents the lowest third quarter total in a decade since the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Although [...]