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 [...]
Bank of England’s Haskel keeps door open to negative rates October 5, 2020 Bank of England (BoE) rate-setter Jonathan Haskel sees some possible benefits from cutting interest rates below zero, though it was too soon to reach a firm conclusion on this. The BoE, which cut interest rates to a record-low 0.1% in March, is now looking at whether it is technically feasible to cut its main interest [...]
Bank of England holds rates, boosts stimulus by £100bn June 18, 2020 The Bank of England has held interest rates at a record low and will expand its bond-buying programme by £100bn to help to steer the British economy through the “unprecedented” crisis caused by coronavirus. At its June meeting, the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted unanimously to keep the main interest rate at a record [...]
Inflation post Covid-19: to be or not to be? May 26, 2020 | City Talk We spoke to two experts who argued the case for and against inflation in the near future and what it means for investments. Abdallah Guezour, Head of Emerging Market Debt and Commodities, and Keith Wade, Chief Economist, discuss the outlook for inflation in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis. Abdallah argues the case for inflation [...]
Economies in free fall as hopes fade for a V-shaped recovery April 28, 2020 | City Talk Amongst the arguments about a lack of protective clothing for health workers and whether governments were too slow to react to the spread of Covid-19, the latest figures show that the pandemic is gradually coming under control. The rate of growth in new infections and fatalities around the world is slowing and the curves are [...]
Johanna Kyrklund: It pays to be patient April 22, 2020 | City Talk As lockdown continues for millions of us across the world, unsure of when we will see loved ones or return to our places of work, we all know we must be patient. Good things come to those that wait, as they say. This seems to me to be true not only from a personal viewpoint, [...]
What impact is Covid-19 having on global economies and markets? March 31, 2020 | City Talk The impact of the new coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic continues to play out. The extent to which the virus will spread, both between and within countries remains unclear, and the duration and impact are highly uncertain. Sadly, the human impact continues to grow, and the virus has now claimed the lives of over 22,000 people, as [...]
Coronavirus to spark “severe” global recession March 20, 2020 | City Talk The coronavirus is having a severe effect on global economic activity and amidst considerable uncertainty we have attempted to gauge the impact and updated our forecasts. We now expect to see the world economy contract this year by 3.1%, before rebounding by 7.2% in 2021. The forecast incorporates a severe recession in the first half [...]
Keith Wade: Is the world now heading for recession? March 13, 2020 | City Talk As I returned to the UK last weekend, my taxi driver talked of panic-buying and impending food shortages. Having wondered if I had stepped off at the wrong airport, it subsequently became clear that his thinking was very close to that of the markets. On Monday (9 March), equities sold off and credit spreads widened [...]
Coronavirus: the economic impact March 5, 2020 | City Talk The coronavirus threatens to derail the revival in global economic growth which began in the latter part of 2019. Economic indicators up to January continued to show an improvement in activity with business surveys signalling rising orders and output. However, confidence in the sustainability of the upswing has been undermined by the virus, officially known [...]