Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis heads to Washington ahead of crunch talks April 14, 2015 Greece’s finance minister Yanis Varoufakis will jet off to the US tonight to meet President Barack Obama, as well as the lawyer who helped Greece restructure its debt in 2012. Varoufakis will meet Obama tomorrow. It will be followed by meetings with European Central Bank head Mario Draghi on Friday, Secretary of the Treasury Jack [...]
IMF: “Complex forces” drive mature market growth, dampen emerging markets in 2015-2016 April 14, 2015 There are “complex forces” across the world that could lead to “uneven” growth over the next year, the IMF has warned. Overall global growth is forecast at 3.5 per cent in 2015 and 3.8 per cent in 2016 – but beneath these top line figures there will be a huge variety. The two biggest [...]
London house prices no longer the UK’s fastest growing as General Election looms April 14, 2015 House price growth is slowing in the run up to the election, new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has shown, with London slipping down the list of fastest growing regions. In January London was top of the pile with 13 per cent year-on-year growth, but it’s been knocked back as its growth [...]
UK inflation: Last time it was at zero in 1989, it was measured by the prices of swiss roll, tracksuits and luncheon meat April 14, 2015 The last time inflation was this low, shoppers' baskets were overflowing with Swiss rolls, shell suits and tins of luncheon meat. Yum. Prices fell 0.01 per cent in March, figures published today by the Office for National Statistics revealed. Although that figure means inflation is still technically zero per cent, it's nevertheless the lowest since records began [...]
General Election 2015: Uncertainty hangs over UK mortgage lending data April 14, 2015 The uncertainty surrounding the General Election hit mortgages in February, as lending dropped, with the total number of loans falling one per cent on January’s figure and 16 per cent compared to last year. The figures According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML),a total of 40,600 loans valued at £6.8bn were granted in February, meaning the [...]
Inflation is zero, but retailers and manufacturers are charging you more for less April 14, 2015 Consumer price inflation may be at zero for the second month in a row, but new research suggests the goods we buy are getting smaller while prices are edging up. Take your Tetley's Blend of Both tea, for example. If you bought that in Sainsbury's a few months back it would have been £2.55 for [...]
Pound falls as UK inflation stays flat at zero in March April 14, 2015 The pound weakened 0.5 per cent against the dollar to $1.4614 after figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed consumer price inflation stayed flat at zero per cent in March. Although it means the UK has missed slipping into deflation for now, a sustained period of stagnant growth is nevertheless a concern. [...]
London house prices: Top-end property sales crushed by stamp duty increase April 13, 2015 Higher taxes have stomped on the prime London property market, forcing the number of sales to dive by one-third, commercial real estate firm DTZ said yesterday. Changes to stamp duty in December’s Autumn Statement mean that homes worth below £1m received a tax cut, but those at the very top end of the price scale have [...]
European markets fall from record highs as political uncertainty hits sterling April 13, 2015 Following the jubilant highs achieved by European markets on Friday, things looked rather more muted this morning. Stocks across Europe started the day down amid political and economic uncertainty, while Greece prepared to enter yet another last-chance saloon. The FTSE 100 was down 0.29 per cent in early trading, while Germany's Dax fell 0.27 per [...]
The death of cash: Brits pay by card and mobile instead April 13, 2015 Cash makes up just £18.33 of every £100 spent in the UK, Halifax said today, as card and digital payments take over. The rise of digital payments is starkly outlined in new figures from the bank, which show how quickly Britons have adopted cutting-edge technologies. Cheques account for just 1.2 per cent of all current [...]